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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 






CATHOLICISM 



THE 



Greatest Danger Impending America 



BY 



PROF. P. M. CLERC, 



I Ex-Catholic Pastor of Montagny, Prenois, Bourberain,^ etc. 



SAN FRANCISCO, 
1889. 



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w '" — --# 



CATHOLICISM 



THE 



Greatest Danger Inipeiidlng America 



"' APR 5 1889 - )/ 



PROF. P. M. CLERC, 



Ex-Catholic Pastor of Montagny, Prenois, Bourberain, etc. 



SAN FRANCISCO. 
1889. 



The Library 

OF Conor HSS 



WASHINGTON 



<\l»' 



^v 



ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 18S9, 
BY 

P. M. CLERC, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



To THE Reader. 



Nine years ago, by the advice of a prominent Protestant lady, 
whose husband is to-day, through the suffrages of CathoHcs, Senator at 
Washington, I prepared a pamphlet of three hundred pages, in which I 
demonstrated, by the most positive facts and the strongest arguments, 
that the Catholic clergy, as a body, is a depraved corporation and the 
greatest danger threatening America. 

That pamphlet was approved by a large Presbyterian congregation 
and was to be published, when, on account of circumstances which are 
known to thousands and which I will mention, I judged proper, if not 
to withdraw, at least to postpone its publication. 

Now, motives of general interest impel me to publish, with some 
additional considerations, the principal parts of that pamphlet, and espe- 
cially what has reference to the aim, intrigues and machinations of priests 
to obtain, per fas et nefas, an absolute control over the government of 
the whole world and especially of America. 

Kind reader, peruse these lines, however imperfect they are ; and, 
considering the object more than the style, form your judgment and de- 
termine if I tell the truth and if I am your friend. 

P. M. Clerc. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

I. Catholicism the Greatest Danger Impending America - - 5 

II. Cathohcism No Longer the Religion of Christ - - - - 15 

III. General Considerations Concerning Catholic Priesthood - 25 

IV. Depravity of the Catholic Clergy in Europe ----- 32 

V. Depravity of the Catholic Clergy in America ----- 50 

VI. A Particular Case of Catholic Priesthood Depravity - - - 78 

VII. An Address to Roman-Catholic Priests ------- 94. 



Catholicism the Greatest l)an,Q;er Impendin.Q: America. 



Since, disgusted with the criminal and hypocritical life of Catholic 
priests and their low and infamous intrigues, I have resolved to aban- 
don the Catholic priesthood and to make my living in an honorable man- 
ner, I have privately pointed out, to Protestant and Jewish friends, 
the Catholic priesthood as the most dangerous enemy to all those who 
are not Catholics. I have given them ample proofs that the Catholic 
church, far from being the church of Christ, is nothing but a rotten 
political body, whfch has for its object the supremacy of the whole world, 
and especially America, and to impose an iron 3'oke upon Protestants, 
Jews and Gentiles. 

Nine years ago, in the pamphlet which I was to publish, after hav- 
ing shown Catholic priests in their true light, I was making to the Amer- 
ican people the following appeal : 

"American citizens, Protestants of all creeds, Jews, and all of you 
who do not believe in holy water, allow a fellow-cit'zen to point out to 
your attention an immense peril which threatens the life, welfare and 
prosperity of this beautiful land. 

"Many of you are alarmed at other impending dangers, and de- 
nounce, for instance, Chinese immigration, monopolies and corporations, 
Momionism and other evils. Allow me to tell you that these evils are 
ri(^thing in comparison with the one I dread for you. 

"When I was in office as a priest in New York, I heard a priest 
express, in a meeting, the Catholic idea on the destiny of the church in 
this country. Though,! do not believe he was a prophet, he prophesied, 
however, that, in fifty years from date, all America would be Catholic, 
and that the statue of the Blessed Virgin would replace the Statue of 
Liberty on the dome of the Capitol at Washington. 

"This is the real aim of Catholic priests. They want no less, 

"To attain that end, the}^ mix in politics. They fill all offices with 
their creatures. Ma^^ors, police officers, judges, assemblymen, senators 
are or must be theirs. The}' want a Catholic president. They want 
only Catholic schools. They want all freedom for themselves alone. As 
they pretend that their church is the only true one, out of which there 
is no salvation possible, they want to destroy your religious creeds 
and your public school system, and form the young generation to their 
image and resemblance. 

"To-day, they are still in minority and they* do not dare to compro- 
mise their cause by imprudent acts of intolerance and religious persecu- 
tion. But let them take a strong hold upon this land, and you will see 
them renew the horrors of the Inquisition, the pri-sons, the faggots, the 
gibbets, the Saint-Bartholomew. 



6 CATHOIJCISM, THE GREATEST DANGER IMPENDING AMERICA'. 

" Vou know what they have done for centuries in the old continent. 
Contcjmplate those interminable religious wars, which, under the inspira- 
tion of priests, have desolated the countries of Europe. Contemplate 
the rivers of human blood which have flooded the earth to satisfy the 
rage of these human monsters. Human nature does not change. What 
they have done in Europe they will do in America, when they have the 
I'o.ver to do so. Contemplate 3^our ministers imprisoned or exiled, your 
lay-teachers expelled from their offices and replaced by ignorant nuns 
and christian brothers. 

"Contemplate those priests, after having established their power, en- 
slaving the souls and consciences of men, fattening themselves with the 
fat of the land, indulging in luxur>^ laying snares in the confession-box to 
the weaker sex, seducing and corrupting your wives and daughters, pen- 
etrating by that immoral institution the secret of your homes, leading a 
dissolute life, scandalizing the people, destroying religion and good mor- 
als, and preparing for the future an age of incredulity and revolutions, 
such as we have had and have still the sorrow to cdntemplate 
it in the old countries of Europe, so shamefully scandalized bj- 
priests. 

"American citizens, look out for your liberty and independence, and 
for the libert}^ and independence of your children. The monster which 
I signalize to you is still young and weak. Fight it and destroy it, 
while it is powerless. A time will come when it will not be so easily- 
subdued. 

"I am neither a politician nor a statesman, and I cannot indicate 
the means to destroy the monster in its infancy. But I entreat all good 
American citizens to consult each other and to unite their common ef- 
forts against this most frightful impending danger. 

' ' Measures have been taken to crush Mormonism and destroy polig- 
amy. Cannot measures, be taken against a set of men, who, under the 
mask of virginity, lead a life of libertinage and are a permanent danger 
tv^ your wives and daughters ? 

' ' You have passed a restriction act prohibiting the further immigra- 
tion of Chinese pagans. Can you not pass a restriction act prohibiting 
the further immigration of Catholic demagogues, God-eaters and wafer- 
worshippers ? 

"Catholics have violated the Constitution of the United States, in 
introducing in America titles of nobility, and creating cardinals who are 
termed Princes of the Church. Can you not give to those princes their 
passports to go back to Rome ? 

' ' Catholics are subservdent to a foreign ruler and agitator who takes 
the name of Pope. Can you not pass a law depriving the privilege 
of American citizen.ship to ever}^ man who swears obedience to a foreign 
ruler and agitator ? 

' ' Catholics want to interfere with your government and your public 
system of education. Can you not tell them that they must confine 
their exertiouvS within the walls of their homes and churches ? Can you 
not remind them that America is essentially a Protestant countr\', and 
that, if they want to breathe the pure air of this free land, they must be 
submissive and not interfere with its government? 



CATHOLICISM THE GREATEST DANGER IMPENDING AMERICA. 7 

"If you do not take a proper step in time, remember that a reli- 
gious war will take place sooner or later in this prosperous countrs', and 
nobody can tell what its consequences will be. 

' ' American citizens, believe a man who has lived among priests and 
who knows their thoughts, their lives and their aim, and do not stop in 
your noble endeavors until you have secured this our Protestant and free 
country against this most dreadful danger." 

This appeal was written nine years ago. Many of my friends read 
it and were more or less convinced of its importance. Since that time, 
events have occurred which prove that it was pretty well grounded, and 
that I had a correct idea of the aims and pretentions of popes, bishops 
and priests. 

What occurred at the last elections of Boston ; what the Methodist 
ministers of San Francisco revealed in their last meetings ; what the 
Argonaut acknowledges in its issue of December 2 2d last ; what the 
Chronicle of San Francisco says, in its issue of the same day, of the ac- 
tion and resolutions of the Evangelical alliance in New York, every thing 
proves that there is a real danger for America in the threatening pre- 
dominance of Catholic priesthood. 

All those who read the newspapers and are familiar with the news 
of the day, must have undoubtedly noticed that Pope Leo XIII, who is 
reputed to be a cunning politician rather than a holj^ Pope, disregarding 
the principles and mandates of the Divine Founder of Christianity, does 
not conceal his design of reconquering, by all possible means, the lost 
supremacy of the Catholic Church in Europe, and of establishing it in 
America. 

A few years ago, he had the audacity to publish a circular address- 
ed to all Bishops and Priests, recommending them to interfere in politics 
as the onl}^ way to reconquer their decaying power. 

What the Pope recommends to his subordinates, he practices him- 
self without scruple or shame. 

The San Francisco Chronicle^ in its issue of Feb. 13, 1889, contains 
the following item : 

" Rome, Feb. 12. — The Pope, in an allocution, sa3'S that it is now 
more necessar}- than ever for all powders to make common cause with the 
Church, by reason of the perils by which thej- are threatened, proof of 
which was afforded by the recent disturbances in Rome. Arms alone 
are insufficient. Peace must be preserved by rendering to each w^hat be- 
longs to him and strictly adhering to the dictates of justice." 

Does not this mean that the Pope pretends to establish his supre- 
macy over all powers ? that he considers himself as the only represen- 
tative of justice and preserv^er of peace ? that he denies the same power 
to other religious denominations ? that all revolutions, strikes and riots, 
which have desolated and still desolate both hemispheres, proceed from 
the fact that he is no more a temporal king nor the supreme ruler of 
the world ? that earthquakes, floods, conflagrations and diseases of po- 
tatoes come from the same cause ? 

How is it that, in 1848, when the Pope was a temporal king, he 
was driven away from Rome by Garibaldi? How is it that, in 1793, 
when the Pope was a temporal king, the French revolution committed 



8 CATHOLICISM THE GRKATEvST DANGER IMPENDING AMERICA. 

SO many horrors? How is it that Popes have always been the promo- 
ters of wars, and one of them, Julius II, went personally to war? 

The Examiner, in its issue of Dec. 25, 1888, contains the follow- 
ing article, under the heading of: "The Power of the Pope — Speech of 
the Pope before the sacred college." The Pontiff appeals to Catholics 
to agitate for the restoration of the papal sovereignt}'. His address 
throughout is extremely violeiit and bitter. 

"At the present time," says His Holiness, " a systimatic war is 
being waged against the Holy See. Even the person of the Pope is ex- 
posed to the threats of the mob. The enemies of the Holy See have weap- 
ons enough already to injure the Papac}^ and, if they do not suffice, 
they are prepared to manufacture fresh weapons." 

This article reveals that the Pope is nothing but a common agitator ; 
that, being extremely violent and bitter, he differs essentialh' from the 
sweet Jesus ; that, being afraid of Italian weapons threatening his holy 
person, he is nothing but a coward ; that, if he wants to show himself 
a man, he must either stand firm and silent before the danger or leavG 
Rome in the hands of the mob and transport his relics to other quarters. 

An intelligence from Paris, dated November 27th, 1888, under the 
heading of ''The Pope's New Plan,'' announces that the Pope, whose 
fondness for journalism is well known, is about to start a large popular 
penny paper for the people, with sound Roman Catholic views in many 
of the leading articles, which are to be written in the Vatican. He has 
donated 1,500,000 francs for that paper. {^Evening Bulletin, Feb. 27th, 
1888). What a shocking presumption ! What an opposition to the 
principles of the Divine Master ! Imagine Jesus Christ interfering with 
politics and establishing a politico-religious paper, for the purpose of 
placing Himself on a throne over Kings, Emperors and Nations ! 

Though enjo3'ing full liberty in Rome ; though living in a ro3^al 
mansion ; though receiving the homages of the whole w^orld, and even 
of Potentates ; though having at his disposition the fat and marrow of 
the earth, the Pope is not satisfied. 

Pope Pio IX left, at his death-bed, a fortune of thirty-two millions 
of dollars. At the occasion of his jubilee. Pope Leo XIII received, from 
all parts of the world, donations to the amount of twenty millions of 
dollars, and, to warm his old heart, ninety thousand bottles of the best 
wines in the world. He has been complimented by Emperors, Kings, 
Queens and Presidents, even by President Cleveland. ^^ * * and 
he is not yet satisfied I 

He lately declared that, in the designs of Divine Providence, Rome 
has been founded, (by Romulus and Remus, who were undoubtedly used 
as Pagan tools for the benefit of the Catholic Church) to be the capital, 
not only of the .small kingdom of Italy, but of the whole Christian 
world. 

The newspapers have lateh- published his pretention to play again 
the part played by the Popes in dark ages, and to make with Emperors 
and Kings an agreement b}* which he would join them to crush down 
modern! republicanism, on the condition that he would be placed at the 
head of the sacred alliance. He has gone further. He has proposed 
himself as the pacificator of Europe, commanding all powers to disarm 
and to disband armies. 



CATHOLICISM THE GREATEST DANGER IMPENDING AMERICA. 9 

Look at that old fossil bowing, in the basest waj^, before the rulers 
of the earth and encouraging them in their despotism against their op- 
pressed peoples, with the unconcealed design of inducing them to re- 
store to him his temporal power: Make Me a King / Make Me a King/ 
he incessantly repeats to them in the most piteous tones. 

Look at him crouching before the old Emperor William, his iron- 
chancellor Bismarck and the young Emperor of German3^ 

When the latter was lately in Rome, on a visit to the King of Italy, 
though being a Protestant, he had the delicacy to go and offer his hom- 
ages to the Roman Pontiff. Did not the old villain tread under foot all 
laws of decenc}^ in asking from him the re-establishment of his temporal 
power, and that, under the ver\^ nose of the monarch to whom the Em- 
peror was doing honor ? Ah ! how well deserv^ed was the rebuke of the 
young Emperor to the old skeleton : ' ' Instead of demanding the restitu- 
tion of your temporal power, you should do better to aid us to fight rev- 
olution, socialism, nihilism and republicanism." 

Look at him prostrated before the Queen of England and helping 
her to keep in miser>^ and bondage his miserable Irish-Catholic support- 
ers, a true vampire who sucks an' artery of the poor Irish victim, while 
the English Lords suck the other arteries. Would he not sell the poor 
Irish peasantry for a piece of bacon and a sack of potatoes ? How cow- 
ardly did he act Avhen he lately condemned the Irish League ! On see- 
ing the Irish tempted to shake off his 3'oke and to send him about his 
business, he crawled before them like a low reptile. He excused him- 
self, saying that he did not mean it, that the}' had misunderstood him, 
and that he tenderh^ loved them, and, when they had cooled off, he came 
back to his vomit and condemned the movement 'again, all that for the 
sake of the Queen and the re-establishment of his temporal power. 

See him courting the schismatic Emperor of Russia, the Mahom- 
medan Sultan of Constantinople and even the heathen Emperor of 
China. 

Look at him sending his congratulations to President-elect Harrison, 
after all his Irish-Catholic Democrats had done all in their power to 
defeat him. 

Look at him disregarding the French nation, because it is a repub- 
lic and is opposed in principle to his tyrannical ideas. Look at him sid- 
ing with autocratic Protestant German}^ against poor France, which 
has been called, for centuries, the right arm and the eldest daughter of 
the Church. 

Not content with establishing his supremacy all over Europe, he 
wants to establish it all over the world, and especially in America. 

He multiplies Dioceses, Bishops and Priests. To flatter the pride 
of Nations, he honors them with Princes of the Church. He creates 
Cardinals ; and these Cardinals, dressed in their princety garments, go 
around the Continent, showing, like clowns, to a dazzled and astonished 
people, the splendor of their gorgeous robes. Protestants, themselves, 
w^ho are fond of display', cannot resist the temptation of shouting hur- 
rah ! Through policy or hyprocris}^ without knowing better, they ex- 
haust themselves in adulations and praises. Did not some silly Protest- 
ant newspapers celebrate the grandeur of Cardinal Gibbons, when he 



lO CATHOLICISM THE GRKATKST DANGER IMPENDIXG AMERICA. 

came to California ? Did they not compare him to the great and majes- 
tic Richeheu of royal and tyrannical memory ? 

Archbishop Riordan, who has been absent from his diocese for about 
one year, is now dined by the Pope and relishes with him the sweet 
perfume of his ninety thousand bottles of good wine. Does he not con- 
coct with His Holiness the plan of making California a Catholic State ? 
Will he not come back as a Prince of the Church, decked with the scar- 
let robe, the sacred pallium made out of the virgin wool of a lamb and 
the blood}'- red hat ? 

An order has been given to all Prelates and Priests to put away, for 
a time, the old rigid dicipline of the Church forbidding Catholics to in- 
terfere with Protestants and Jews, for fear of being corrupted b}^ them. 
They are recommended to make friendship with them, not so much to 
convert them as to use them for their own advantage. 

Formerly, when the Church had a strong power, the Jews were de- 
nounced as a perfid nation^ a deicide nation. They were cursed on the 
Good Friday. No Catholic could receive absolution, as long as he was 
at their service. Heretics and schismatic, who had been lucky enough 
to escape the Inquisition and the faggots, were denounced in the same 
way. Their marriages were considered as invalid, and their children, as 
illegitimate. But nowadays, a pillar of the Catholic Church, the Hon- 
orable Catholic Judge Sullivan, has pronounced the validity' of the Shar- 
ion-Hill marriage, celebrated in the obscurity of the closet, without 
Priest, without Minister, without Rabbi, without Mayor, without Jus- 
tice of the Peace, without any other witnesses than two sheets and a 
pair of blankets ; and neither Bishops or Priests have rebuked him nor 
expelled him from their Churches. On the contrary, they are proud of 
him, they consider him as a Saint, and thej^ have honored him with 
their suffrages at the last election ! 

At the same election, Father Pendergast, the great Inquisitor of the 
Archdiocese of San Francisco and Vicar- General with inquisitorial pow- 
ers, though being opposed to the public school system, had the effron- 
tery to put publicly his grain of salt in it. To make proselytes and to 
please Mrs. George Hearst (a Protestant lady, who, to favor her own am- 
bition, protects Catholic interests), he recommended, in common with 
her, the election of six lady school directors, while Mr. Hearst was fight- 
ing them in his paper, the Exa7?iiner, on the ground that the}- were on 
the Republican ticket. Was it not a grand, or rather a funn^^ spectacle 
to see that Vicar-General, with his ascetic face and his Democratic prin- 
ciples, side with a Protestant Democratic lady, and, through ambition 
and hypocrisy, though being a good Democrat, endorse with her, the 
Republican ticket? What will that illustrious Vicar-General do, if he 
ever comes in power ? Will he not then dispense with lad}^ school-di- 
rectors and claim for nuns and christian brothers the whole management 
of public schools, to the exclusion of Protestants and Jews ? 

To-day, under strict recommendation. Catholics will live in peace 
with Protestants and Jews. All their famished maids and bo3^s will be 
allowed to go to their ser\dce and receive their mone}^, in order that they 
may give it to their Priests to build fine Catholic schools and churches, 
and surpass their emploj^ers in luxur}- and display, showing them their 
great power. 



CATHOLICISM THE GREATEST DANGER IMPENDING AMERICA. 1 1 

Acting like domesticated cats which pla}^ with good-natured dogs, 
though by instinct the}' are their enemies, the}^ will associate with them, 
especiall}' in politics, and grant to them, for a time, a part of the poHti- 
cal cake, until the}- will be able to eat it alone, and to thank them for 
their unnecessary^ sendees. 

These h^-pocritical Catholic cats will play with the good dogs, only 
as long as they are on the top and have the best of the game. If 
they are bitten or scratched, they scream and use their nails. Was not 
this their recent case with the Methodist Ministers ? I do not know what 
the latter said in their vestry-rooms. But I read in the newspapers a 
sharp note to their address, in which Rev. Father Montgomer}^ the 
Chancellor of the Diocese, said to them arrogantty : "As long as jon 
make your crusades in 3'our vestr>^-rooms, we are not afraid of 3'ou. In- 
stead of talking so much, you w-ould do better to do as we do — build 
fine schools and churches." (A beautiful reason, indeed, to be proud 
of building schools and churches, when the money is extorted by crafty 
Priests from poor ignorant ser\^ant girls who would prefer to go naked 
than to refuse them anything, while their Irish Catholic milHonaires, 
better advised, do not give them a cent ! ) 

While those Catholic Prelates and Priests act so h^-pocritically with 
Protestants and Jews, see in what unchristian manner they act with the 
members of their own church. 

There is, in America, a large societj- known under the name of 
'' Kjiights of Labor y Most of the members of that society are Catho- 
lics. — Cardinal Tachereau, Archbishop of Quebec, condemned that so- 
ciety as being a secret society. By what I read in the Alta California, 
in its issue of Xov. 28, 1888, that Prelate was right. For a Knight of 
Labor, Thomas Barn-, declared, at a meeting held in Chicago, Nov. 27th, 
that ''' tJie new organization he proposes in opposition to Powderly is to be se- 
cret in the same sense as the Knights of Labor. — Cardinal Gibbons, of Bal- 
timore, took the defense of the Knights, and pretended that they were 
not a secret societ3\ Both Cardinals went to Rome to plead for and 
against the. order. Cardinal Tachereau had the best of his opponent, 
when the cunning Pope silenced him, sa3dng : "If we condemn them, 
we shall empty our churches. Go home, m^^ friends ;. say nothing ; let 
us be careful not to break our soup-tureens." And the decision of the 
infallible pontiff was postponed until after the Greek calends. 

To throw a little hght on the difference of opinion between the two 
Cardinals, I must mention a little item of the San Francisco Chronicle, 
(Xov. I, 1888,) stating that Cardinal Tachereau, being a British subject, 
had no motive to side with the Irish-Catholic Knights of Labor, while 
Cardinal Gibbons, being an Irish Democrat, was naturally impelled to 
keep in the bosom of his Church his own countr3'men, whether they 
were or not in conformit\^ with its principles. 

Frightful strikes and riots have occurred in all parts of the States, 
and especialty in San Francisco. Most of the strikers were Irish Catho- 
lics. Bombs have been thro^^m, d^-namite has been used, hves and prop- 
ert}- have been destroyed. Did ever Catholic Bishops and Priests de- 
nounce these acts of vandalism ? No, they have been like dumb dogs 
who do not know even how to bark. It seems, on the contrary, that 



12 CATHOI.ICISM THE GREATEST DANGER IMPEXDING AMERICA. 

they approved these disorders, if not openl}^ at least in secret, because , 
it is known that the pohce force, from Chief Crowley to the last officer, 
w^as siding with strikers and rioters, and the whole police force is com- 
posed of nothing else but of Irish Catholics. 

Some time ago, a man, well known under the name of Henr}- 
George, was tr>ang to obtain the Mayorality of New York, on principles 
bordering on socialism. A Catholic Priest, Rev. Dr. McGlinn, whom I 
consider as a good and charitable man, a true philanthropic man, had 
the misfortune to associate with him, and to establish, in common with 
him, an anti-poverty party . Dr. McGlinn may have been mistaken, but I 
do not doubt that he had good intentions for the poor. For this he was 
condemned and thrown out of the church. Whether the church was 
too hard on him or not, I will not sa3\ But w^3.t strikes me most 
is that, after Dr. McGlinn seceded from Henr}^ George, Cardinal Gib- 
bons recommended the Pope not to condemn the doctrine of Henr>' 
George, while the poor Dr. McGlinn remained under the excommunica- 
tion of the Church, and his sister-in-law was induced by the Priests of 
San Francisco to sue his brother for divorce on the sole ground that he 
sided wdth him against the Pope. Is Henrj^ George a Catholic convert 
or a socialist as before ? or is the Catholic Church disposed to receive 
against its opponents the services of socialists such as Henrs^ George and 
of radical scoundrels, such as I^eon Deshaj^es of San Francisco ? 

Among Catholic clerg\'men exists a great deal of dissention which, 
though it is as carefulty as possible kept in the dark, transpires from time 
to time. 

Last year, I read, in some newspaper, that the German Priests of 
the East complained to the Pope of the arrogance and spirit of domina- 
tion of Irish Priests, who w^ant to govern alone the whole Church. (My 
experience as a Priest in New York has taught me that German Priests 
do not complain without cause. ) What did the old Pope answer to 
their complaint ? He sent word that he did not want to cross the water 
to settle the disputes of Priests. In this, he showed his fallibilit}^ for 
it is rather impossible to settle the disputes of Priests and to -quell their 
pride. 

This 3^ear, as a kind of reprisal, the Irish Priests of the East have 
sent to the Propaganda a petition protesting against the predominating 
influence of German Catholics in America, and demanding, ist, that 
the cathechism be taught only in the .English language ; 2d, that, in 
those German parishes where sermons heretofore were preached in 
German, the}^ should be preached now in English ; 3d, that no more 
festivities of a German nature should be tolerated, and, in short, 
ever}^ thing German should be abolished — {^Examiner, Nov. 13, 1888.) 
What will be the decision of the Pope ? If somebody w^ants to know 
it, he will do well to ask it from Bismarck ; for he leads the old Pope by 
the nose. 

Who did not laugh at the religious comedy played lately b}' a Cath- 
olic Priest in the case of the Jewish murderer Goldenson ? As I have 
already- insinuated. Catholic Priests do not want so much to convert as 
to seduce. Whether the}- make a real convert or not, the}- do not care. 
Their only aim is to show their importance and to gain popularity. The 



CATHOLICISM, THE GREATEST DANGER IMPENDING AMERICA. 1 3 

Jewish criminal had murdered, without any warning, a young Irish 
Catholic school girl, and, if she was not prepared for death, in all proba- 
bility, he sent her to hell. To show to the world a rare example of 
magnanimity and heroism, the Priest undertook to convert the criminal 
and to send him to heaven. He visited him in his cell and captured 
his affection. Whether he converted him or not, nobody knows ; for 
neither the Priest nor the criminal have dared to confess Christ before 
men. Anyhow, to make a show of himself, the Priest, desirous to re- 
new the imposing spectacle of a former Priest accompan3'ing to the 
scaffold the King of France, Louis XVI, and encouraging him to die, 
with these noble expressions : ''son of St. Louis ^ ascend to heaven^'' the 
Priest of San Francisco, the holy and heroical Catholic Priest, accom- 
panied to the scaffold his so-called Jewish murderer convert. What 
signs of conversion did that criminal give on the scaffold ? Did he ut- 
ter a word of repentance ? Did he cry for mercy ? Did he apply to 
Christ for salvation ? Did he make the sign of the cross ? Did he ex- 
press the desire to kiss the crucifix ? No, he did nothing of the kind. 
He made a ridiculous and bombastic speech having not the least rela- 
tion to religion, his crime and his blasphemies, and he breathed his last, 
holding in his hands, not a crucifix, but the American flag and the pic- 
ture of his coveted mistress ! ! ! and the sacred Priest was there, glori- 
ous, all in perspiration, under the impression that he had made a won- 
der and operated a true miracle ! * * * O, comedian ! 

Is it not eas}' to see the actual game of Popes, Bishops and Priests? 
They want to make their preponderance felt, no matter how. Formerly, 
they fulfilled iheir duties wuth much more humility and less ostenta- 
tion. Now they trumpet their good deeds with the most ridiculous 
fracas. The}- want to be ever}- where the bosses of the road. Whether 
in Baltimore, where the}^ build a great Catholic University, which will 
be the light-house of both hemispheres and eclipse all other universi- 
ties, or in New York, where they build marble Cathredrals and break 
the necks of good and charitable priests, such as Rev. Dr. McGlinn and 
Father O'Connor, or in San Francisco, where they multipl}^ brick 
churches and wooden schools, and unmercifully bojxott the humble au- 
thor of these lines, they w^ant to establish the supremac}^ of their 
Church over the ruins of their opponents ; and, to attain that end, 
they use, per fas et nefas, all the means in their power. Thej-^ bm^ prot- 
estant newspapers, the}^ corrupt ambitious politicians, they seduce Jews 
by the promise of favoring their trade. 

Indeed, the^^ seem to make headway- in America. Is it not possi- 
ble to check their progress ? I think it is possible. That depends on 
the courage and manhood of all those who are not Catholics. 

If Catholics are the declared enemies of Protestants, Jews and 
Free-thinkers, wh}^ should not Protestants, Jews and Free-thinkers make 
a triple alliance against their common enemy ? 

Catholicism is played out in the old countries of Europe. Is it 
possible that this proscribed creed should be permitted to find a shelter 
and a place of refuge in this enlightened and free country ? 

Look at the condition of Catholicism in the different countries of 
Europe. France does not want it any more. Spain does not w^ant it. 



14 CATHOLICISM the; GREATEST DANGER IMPENDING AMERICA. 

Germany does not want it. Switzerland does not want it. Belgium 
does not want it. England does not want it. Holland, Sweden and 
Norwa}^ do not want it. Russia does not want it. Portugal does not 
want it. Italy does not want it. Rome itself does not w^ant it. 

Is it not true that the Pope is uneas}^ and restless in Rome ? Is it 
not rather singular that the very center of Catholicity has become infi- 
del, and that the Romans do not want the Pope an}- more ? 

They do not respect him. The}' insult him, to such an extent that 
the poor old man declares he cannot stand it any more. He wants to 
transport his H0I5' See somewhere else. He does not know where to 
transplant his fading power, whether in Jerusalem, or in Malta, or in 
Belgium, or in America. 

Can an}^ one give him a kingdom and a throne ? * * * Ah ! 
if I had the means and power, I would present him with a magnificent 
throne, I would precioush- sit His Holiness on it, I would take him to 
the summit of Mount A^esuvius, place him on an immense scaffold on 
the top of the vast crater, and- then, calling to m}' aid the subterranean 
powers, I would blow him up to heaven, with all his cardinals, bishops 
and priests, being happ}- to deliver the earth from its most terrible 
curse, and the human kind from its most mortal enemies. 



II. 
Catholicism no lono^er the religion of Christ. 



This assertion may appear rash and bold to persons who cannot 
get rid of ideas received by education and sanctioned by routine. If 
those persons are willing to put aside for a moment their preconceived 
ideas and serioush'- reflect on the following considerations, I have no 
doubt that they will change their minds. 

What I have to saj^ to the public on this subject, I have said long 
ago to the priests themselves. In order to show them that they have 
departed from the principles of the founder of Christianity, and that 
they d'o not represent art}^ more the ideal of the church established by 
Christ, I wrote the following letter to the address of His Grace, the 
most Rev. Joseph S. Alemau}^, Archbishop of San Francisco, and plac- 
ed it at the head of my former pamphlet : 

San Francisco, May i, 1881. 

Most Rev. Sir : — In publishing this pamphlet of mine, ni}^ ob- 
ject is to state nothing but the truth, with the sole desire of promoting 
the public good, by purifying the church and stopping scandals. 

I owe this publication to my own self, to your I^ordship, to the 
Catholic people, to all governments and to God Himself. 

1. I owe it to myself. I have been so grossly abused and cruelh^ 
persecuted by criminal priests and their blind emissaries that I feel it to 
be only right to reveal the truth about them and about myself. 

2. I owe it to your Lordship and to all the Catholic bishops. I know 
that Catholic bishops have a great deal to contend -with among their 
priests ; that the government of their priests is the hardest part of their 
administration ; that their main occupation is to correct or hide their 
vices and crimes, and that they are sometimes compelled to sacrifice 
good priests to the rascality of mercenaries, who would otherwise scat- 
ter and destroy the whole flock. An exposition of this kind will give 
strength to your hands and help you, with the assistance of public 
opinion, to employ the rod and chastise those who deserve it, and the 
scalpel to cut off all that w^hich is gangrened. 

3. I owe it to the Catholic people, w^hom I love still, though I des- 
pise their priests. I must show to them, by positive facts, that their 
priests are largely religious quacks and vicious frauds, whose aim and 
endeavor is to obtain from them honor, money and easy living rather 
than to save their souls, and that, instead of being angels, such as the^^ 
have the boldness to represent themselves, the}^ are often devils under 
a human form. I must show^ to the Catholics that they are wrong to 
submit to their priests in all their demands, that they are mistaken in 
treating them so bountifully, and that they have a right to better 
leaders in the way of salvation. 



ID CATHOLICISM NO LONGER THK RELIGION OF CHRIST. 

Let them compare the principles of Christ and of the apostles with 
those of their clergymen, and the}^ will acknowledge how low the latter 
have fallen. 

Christ said that his kingdom was not of this world. When the peo- 
ple wanted to make him a king, he fled away and hid himself. When 
Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, the Savior re- 
buked him and said : "Put your sword into the shield, for those who use 
the sword shall perish b}- the sword." Did the Popes hide themselves 
when the people wanted to make them kings ? They accepted it eager- 
ly. For centuries, they pretended to be the supreme rulers of all the 
potentates of the earth. Not contented with being spiritual rulers, they 
wanted to be temporal kings. They levied armies, they took up arms 
and killed, in the name of the crucified and forgiving Savior, men whom 
their sacred duty w^as to save. 

Since they were divested of their temporal power and granted a 
vast palace for residence, with a royal income, they growl loudly before 
the whole world, complaining that they are captive, and demanding re- 
instatement, vindication and mone3^ 

What a difference of conduct ! Christ wore a crown of thorns and 
ignomin3^, had not a stone to rest his head upon, and the Popes wear a 
triple crown of gold and honor, live still in palaces. Paul used to say : 
" I rejoice in m}^ chains ! " and the popes snarl, being free and in full 
spiritual sovereignt}^ in the Vatican. Peter said to the crippled man on 
the steps of the temple : "I have neither gold nor silver ; but what I 
have, I give it to you; rise and walk," and his successors abound in riches. 
Histor}" does not mention the amount of mone}" which Christ and the 
apostles left at their death-bed. But it is recorded that Pio IX left, at 
his death, thirty-two millions of dollars, extorted by the means of Saint 
Peter's pence, from poor sen^ant girls. 

What is that Catholic prodigalit}^ used for ? To keep popes and 
prelates in luxurj^ and to render them forgetful of their duties to their 
peoples. 

When I w^as young, I had a great admiration for Pio IX and his 
secretar}^, Cardinal Antonelli, w^hom I considered as two saints and two 
miracle-makers. But I have been of late amazed to read that the only 
miracles they wrought were, for Pio IX, to hoard up a fortune of thirty- 
two millions of dollars,' and for Antonelli (sworn to chastit}'!) to become 
a father by an Italian countess. On account of the child, a lawsuit was 
begun after his Lordship's death. 

Are the popes grateful to their generous supporters ? No, they are 
guilt}^ of the most monstrous ingratitude. There is no better proof of 
this than their conduct with regard to Ireland, Germany and Italy. 

In this very time, poor Ireland, bleeding under a persecution of 300 
years and trodden under foot bj^ the English government, is struggling 
for life, bread, liberty and independence. For centuries, that generous 
nation has sacrificed her blood and mone3^ for the popes, and — shameful 
spectacle ! — we see the Pope and the prelates condemning her noble en- 
deavors and seeking the alliance of the tyrant, in order to secure for 
themselves temporal power, personal advantage. 

For the same low motives, we see them tr>dng to make alliance wdth 
th^ Q^Vmm ^Qy^vnmmt, Xh.^ p^r^ecutor of QathoHcs, For the sam^ 1q\v 



CATHOI.ICISM NO I.OXGER THK RELIGIOX OF CHRIST. 1 7 

motives, we see them opposing the unity of the Itahan people, and want- 
ing to behead that nation, in severing from her, Rome, the natural cap- 
ital of Italy. 

What is done at the top of the church is repeated in lower regions. 
Priests want also honor, riches, comfort ; and Catholics have the simplic- 
ity to grant to them all they want with a prodigality which has no oth- 
er effect than to corrupt them and make them forgetful of their priestty 
duties. 

How can it be otherwise ? 

Paul says : " We carry our virtue in fragile vases." Though hav- 
ing been himself ravished to the third heaven, he exclaims : "Who 
will deliver me from this body of death ? " And he adds : "I chastise 
my body and reduce it to servitude, for fear that, after having preached 
to others, I may be mj^self a reprobate." 

Do priests chastise their bodies, like Paul, and reduce them to ser- 
vitude ? Are they, like Christ, men of pain and sorrow ? What do they 
do to preserve their virtue ? They preserve it in comfort and good liv- 
ing, in idleness and dangerous relations. They preserve it in neglecting 
their religious duties, profaning the sacraments, and calling the wrath 
of God upon themselves and upon their people. Who is responsible for 
it ? Catholics, who have the folly to gorge them with money and all 
the delicacies of the world, and to grant to them a confidence and liber- 
ty whic^ the}^ abuse to the detriment of their souls. 

When I see priests, with their pockets full of money, indulging in 
idleness, wines, liquors, good meals and society with women whose 
weakness the}^ know from the confession-box, sa3dng to the people : — 
"Look at me, I am an angel ; come to me, I will forgive your sins ;" I 
turn with indignation to God and sa}^ : " O God ! is this thy work ? No, 
it cannot be ! " If bishops should tell me, for humiliation's sake, to go 
and bow before a swine, I would understand them and go. But, if they 
tell me to go and bow before a sensual, drunken and immoral priest, I 
cannot understand them, and I will not go. 

Catholics may be sure that, in their present condition, their priests 
are generalh' nothing but quack-saviors, and that, in making them pay 
very dear for their masses and sacraments, the}^ are nothing but money- 
making machines and a mass of corruption. 

4th. I owe this to all the people and governments of the w^orld. 
We are in an age of enlightenment and progress, where every abuse and 
fraud must be ventilated and destroyed. The immoral condition of 
catholic priests, their spirit of domination and intolerance, are a threat 
against the welfare of the people. This compels me to give a solemn 
warning to all the rulers of the earth. Beware of the intrigues and 
machinations of priests. Beware of their corrupt and corrupting 
power. Make the popes and priests understand that their kingdom is 
not of this world, and that this must be more than a mere word; it must 
become an actual fact. 

5th. I owe it to God, who hates h3^pocrisy and vice, whose people 
is scandalised, whose flock is scattered, whose temples are polluted, 
whose sacraments are profaned. God is. a Holy God, and he wants 
only holy men to do his work. Let every Judas, w^ho sells his body for 



1 8 CATHOIvICIvSM NO LONGER THK RHUGION OF CHRIST. 

cash, while eating and profaning it, repent or hang himself by his own 
hands, that true apostles nia}- render glory to his name. 

In conclusion, Most Rev. Sir, I believe you to be a good bishop. 
There are other good bishops besides 3'ou. There are some good priests. 
There is no rule without an exception ; and, if the rule is that Catholic 
priests are bad, there are exceptions, of course. With the concourse of 
these good bishops and priests, might be formed a new clerg}^ accord- 
ing to the principles of Christ and of the apostles. 

When I look at the chief apostles, I see that two of them have 
sanctified themselves in different ways. 

St. Peter, the first pope, w^as a father of a family. He had a 
daughter by the name of Petronilla, who became a saint, and is feasted 
by Catholics on the 30th of June. You see that it is possible to be an apos- 
tle and to have a daughter, and that it is possible that the father and 
the child should both be placed on the altars as saints of the church. 
Would it not be better that 3'our priests should be legally husbands and 
fathers, rather than to expose them, by the vain raiment of ^'irginit}^ to 
scandalize their people by their immoralities or the hiding or killing of 
their children ? 

St. Paul had no Petronilla. But, to sanctify his soul, he declares 
his way to be : "I chastise my body and reduce it into servitude." If 
3'ou want your priests to follow the wa3^s of Paul, let them chastise their 
bodies and reduce them into servitude. 

Let them, as in former ages, have neither gold nor silver. I,et them 
not indulge in the delicacies of the world, in good cheer, wine and liq- 
uors. In vino hixuria. 

Let them receive from their flocks onh' what is necessar\^ for very 
simple living. ■ 

Let them keep wholly away from women. Let no servant girl, 
3^oung or old, be allowed to them. Ah ! that servant girl ! that servant 
girl ! I do not like to see her sleeping alone under the same roof with 
those angels ! 

So far as it ma}' be necessar\', let them have male servants. Have not 
Chinamen been providentially created to be the servants of priests? If 
there is a prohibition against further immigration of Mongolians, let an 
exception be made in favor of priests. Let them, two or three times a 
da3% chastise their bodies with the lash ; and, if they forget to do it, let 
the Chinaman have the charge to fulfil that function in their place. That 
is, Most Rev. Sir, the kind of priests, angels and saviors the people 
w^ant. Give such a priesthood to the world ; and, instead of the rascal- 
ities which we deplore everv^ day, miracles of holiness will be multiplied 
among us, and God will be glorified. 

Yours most respectfully, 

P. M. Clerc. 

On December 18, 1888, answering an invitation made to me by 
Methodist ministers to participate in their discussion on "Catholicism," 
■ I made the following address : 

Reverend Gentlemen : — You had the kindness to invite me to 
participate in your discussion on '' Catholicism y I thank you heartily 



CATHOLICISM NO tONGER THE RELIGION OE CHRIST. ig 

for the honor, and I will trs' to do m}^ best to tell you what I know^ on 
the subject. Gentlemen, I am sailing on the same boat as j^ou. Be- 
cause, on account of crimes not imputable to me, and of horrible perse- 
cutions, I resolved to abandon the Catholic priesthood and to make my 
living in an honorable way, I am persecuted, denounced and cursed as 
an apostate, a renegade, a real monster. So 3^ou are, my friends. In 
the belief and talk of Catholics, j^ou are nothing but mercenaries and 
impostors. Your followers are dupes. You have no true religion nor 
holiness in you. Your marriages, not blessed by the pure hands of cath- 
olic priests, are concubinages, and your children are bastards. Your 
schools are godless and 3^our government, corrupt. You are all con- 
demned to go to hell, because they highl}^ proclaim that "out of the 
Catholic church there is no salvation possible." 

Is it possible ? * * Is it possible that you, good ministers of 
the gospel, whether Episcopalians, Methodists, Presb3'terians, Luther- 
ans, Baptists, etc., and 3'our good and virtuous congregations should all 
be condemned to go to hell, and that the holy catholic priests and their 
hoi}' flocks should have in reserve for themselves alone the eternal bliss 
of heaven ? Is it possible ? * * * No, it is not possible. 

Some years ago, an Irish-Catholic man, who knows me as an ex- 
Catholic priest, asked of me in a public place the following question : — 
" Do 3^ou think. Professor, that it is possible to be saved out of the 
Catholic church ? " "I think so," I answered. " I do not think so," 
he replied, emphatically. "Sir," I said, "I do not like to speak on re- 
ligious subjects in public places. But, since 3^ou have the imprudence 
to put me to the wall, I will prove to 3'ou that 3'our theory- is absurd." 
" Prove it," said he. " Well, sir, these are nty proofs : 

"Do 3'ou admit that God is the creator and father of all men, and 
that he is a good father and a good God ?" "Yes, sir, I admit it," he an- 
swered. " Well," I said, " let us look at the people of the globe. You 
sa\' there are two hundred millions Catholics. This I positivel3' deny. 
Is France Catholic? No, it is so in name, but not in fact. The three- 
fourths of the French population are free-thinkers and not Catholics. It 
is the same with the other old Catholic countries of Europe — Spain, Italy 
and Austria ; I can prove it. Is England Catholic ? No. Is Belgium Cath- 
olic ? No. The majorit\^ are anti-Catholics. Are Holland, Denmark, 
Sweden and Norway Catholics ? No, the3^ are Protestants. Is Ger- 
man3' Catholic? No ; out of its forty-five millions of inhabitants, hard- 
I3' ten millions are Catholics; the others are protestants. Is Switzerland 
Catholic ? No, the majorit3- are Protestants. Is Russia Catholic ? No, 
it is schismatic. Are the Turks Catholics? No, they are Mohammedans. 
Is Asia Catholic ? No, it belongs to Mohammed, Confucius or Bud- 
dha. Is Africa Catholic ? No, it is either Mahommedan or idolatrous. 
Is Australia Catholic ? No, it belongs to the religion of England or 
to idolatr3'. Is America Catholic ? No, I grant 3-ou ten millions of 
Catholics in the United States out of sixt3' millions of inhabitants. The 
remainder is composed of Protestants, Jews and free-thinkers. Which, 
therefore, is Catholic? Ireland, Ireland alone — and, how is its Catholi- 
cism manifested ? B3^ drunkenness, riot, bloodshed, d3mamite, murder, 
degradation. * * And you will tell me that only Catholics can be 



56 CATHOLICISM NO LONGKR THE RELIGION OF CHRIST. 

saved, and that all those who are not catholics shall be damned ! ! ! If 
it is so, God is not the good father of all men. If it is so, God is 
no God, he is a monster ! ! ! " 

The fellow did not answer me. I was applauded by the crowd. 
Since that time, that man has never addressed me in public on religious 
affairs. 

Who are those men, who pretend to be the only representatives of 
God on earth, who assume the extraordinary power of sending their 
fellow-creatures to heaven or to hell, and who boldly affirm that, out of 
their society, there is no salvation possible ? 

Who are Catholics, and what is Catholicism ? 

Catholicism is ver^^ different from Christianity. 

Catholicism resembles Christianity just as darkness resembles the 
light. Catholicism is the mimicry, the parody, the travesty of Christian- 
ity. Catholicity is no longer the religion of Christ. 

The marks it gives of its divine character are mere impositions. 
Catholicism has been for ages and is still the curse of human kind. 
These are, gentlemen, the points I will submit to your judgment in the 
address you have allowed me to make to you on this occasion. 

You are all well versed in the Bible and the history of the primitive 
church. 

Did you ever read in the Bible or in the history of the church an}^ 
article stating that Christ was a Catholic, and especially a Roman Catho- 
lic? Were the apostles and the first Christians Catholics, and especially 
Roman Catholics ? 

We all know the tenets of the Catholic church. Did ever Christ 
and the apostles celebrate mass wath surplices, stoles and chasubles be- 
fore six lighted tapers ? Did thsy hear confessions in the confession- 
box? Did they ever rub the eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, hands, feet 
and loins of the dying Christians, with oil blessed on Holy Thursday, 
to remove remainders of sin w^hich they had been unable to remove by 
confession ? 

Did they offer mass for the dead suffering in the flames of purga- 
tory, receiving one or five dollars for each mass ? 

Did they sell relics and indulgences? Did Jesus Christ eat his own 
body and drink his own blood at the last supper? Did Christ sa^^ : "I 
want to establish a church which will be called holy^ catholic^ apostolic and 
Roman, whose capital will be Rome, whose chief ruler will be called pope, 
which pope will live in a palace, having a body-guard, princes called 
cardinals, chamberlains, primates, archbishops, bishops, valets and 
priests — a pope having supreme power over all nations of the earth and 
even over their rulers, writh the privilege to create or depose them at 
his will, and to excommunicate and interdict, according to circumstan- 
ces, emperors, kings and nations — a pope having, besides, a temporal 
power wdth a little army of soldiers to kill Christians who would refuse 
obedience ? 

No. Assuredly, no. You never read am^thing of the kind. Ev- 
ery sincere Christian knows that Christ, after having declared that ' ' his 
kingdom is not of this world," said : " Render to Caesar what belongs 
to Caesar; and to God what belongs to God." Every sincere Christian 
knows that he ran away from the Jews, when they wanted to make him 



CATH3LICISM NO I.ONGKR THE RELIGION OF CHRIST. 21 

a king, that tie rebuked Peter for having drawn his sword in his defense 
and that, when he was overtaken by the Jews in the garden of Gethse- 
mane, he said that, if he wanted, he could call to his rescue millions of 
good soldiers, called angels; but he did not want to do so. 

His mission upon earth was a mission of holiness and peace. He 
came to purif}^ the human heart, to implant in it ideas of humilit}^, 
charity, purity, forgiveness, disinterestedness, self-denial, mortification 
of the bod}^ exaltation of the faculties of mind and soul; and, to sanc- 
tion his doctrine by his example, he made himself poor, not having a 
stone to rest his head upon ; he was called the man of pain ; he was 
born, not in a palace like the Vaticari, but in a stable ; he had for cour- 
tiers neither cardinals nor princes, but something far superior — two hum- 
ble animals, an ox and an ass. His crown was made out of thorns, and 
his throne was a cross. He did not mean to establish his religion with 
the use of swords, b}^ killing his enemies, but by sacrificing himself and 
dying ; and, indeed, his sufferings and death were the royal means by 
which he conquered the world. 

His first apostles and disciples understood his principles and fol- 
lowed his examples. They did not try to establish their power as kings 
and potentates. Their ambition was to conquer souls to their divine 
master, and to suffer and die for his love. The}^ rejoiced in their tribu- 
lations and chains. They were making converts, not by the use of 
arms but by the power of their good example. "See how they love 
each other, " exclaimed the astonished pagans. They were making 
converts by .Redding their blood for the divine cause. ' ' The blood of 
martyrs is the seed of Christians," such was the general sa3dng. 

At that time, Christianit}^ was flourishing, because the spirit of 
Christ was still infused in his disciples ; because his true doctrine was 
preached ; because the corrupt human, or rather inhuman, Catholic in- 
stitution was not 3'et invented. 

Before that invention, nobod}- knew an^'thing about the supremacy' 
of the Pontiff of Rome. The patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch and 
Constantinople disputed it. Finally the bishops of Rome triumphed 
over them, and took the novel name of Popes. Then was created a kind 
of spiritual empire on the model of the Roman empire. By torturing 
the sense of the Scripture of which they pretended to be the sole inter- 
preters, and relying on uncertain traditions imagined by ambitious 
monks and priests, popes declared themselves the vicars of Christ and 
his representatives on earth. They created cardinals, princes of the 
church, primates, archbishops, subordinate bishops and priests, the 
whole of it being organized 51.S an arm}^ of celestial deputies having un- 
limited power all over the eiirth. On accotmt of the ignorance of the 
time, the}^ made the people^ believe that, in the same way as the soul 
is superior to the bod}^, the spiritual power was superior to the tempo- 
ral, and the}^ organized a politico-religious system by which princes 
should be dependent upon kings, kings dependent upon emperors, and 
the whole crowd under the heels of the sovereign pontiff. 

They went further. They pretended to have the right to be tem- 
poral kings, to have a little kingdom, a little arm^^ of soldiers, to de- 
clare peace or war, to foster intrigues among princes, to make alliances 
with or against nations and to go personally to war. Did not Pope Ju- 



12 CATHOLICISM NO LOXGliR THE RELIGION OF* CHRIST. 

lius II take up a cuirass and arms and put himself at the head of an 
army to kill Christians ? Did not, recently, Pope Pio IX raise a little 
army of pontifical Zv:,uaves, who, under the leadership of General De 
Lam )riciere, were ordered to kill Christians on the fields of Italy ? Does 
not Pope Leo XIII claim, yet, the re-establishment of his temporal 
power with a little army, to have the pleasure to make use of a sword 
which Jesus Christ refused to Peter? 

The fable speaks of Jupiter hurling the thunderbolt from the heights 
of heaven. Did not the popes pretend to be the Jupiters of the church, 
and to hurl the thunderbolts of excommunication and damnation over 
their enemies ? Does not history mention three popes existing at the 
same time, one in France, one in Rome, and one in Spain, thundering 
at each other and sending each other to hell ? 

Ah ! that savage institution, so different from the charitable and 
merciful institution of Christ, was not to last very long. What is divine 
remains. What is human perishes. Popery began to decay many cen- 
turies ago, and is now on the verge of its downfall. Human dignity 
was aroused. Schisms, heresies, arose. The Greek church seceded 
with Photius in Constantinople. Russia seceded. With Martin Luther, 
the greatest part of Europe seceded. And, in our times, the nations 
which have been for centuries the right arm of the church, — France, Italy 
and Spain — begin to secede. Rome itself, the center of Catholicity^ does 
not want the Pope any more. 

Singular spectacle, indeed ! Twelve apostles, animated with the 
spirit of Christ, succeeded in converting the world. For ages, old Eu- 
rope has been flooded with bishops, priests, monks and nuns of every 
shape and of ever}^ color. To-da}^, there are in France over forty thous- 
and priests. The same amount exists in Italy, Spain, Germany and 
Austria. There are to-day over two hundred thousand priests in Eu- 
rope, and Europe is infidel!!! What are these priests doing? Do they 
fulfil their duties ? * * Shame to sa^^, twelve apostles had the 

power to convert the world, and two hundred thousand Catholic priests 
have no other power than to make it infidel ! ! ! 

What kind of apostles are the}-? 

It strikes me. Rev. Gentlemen, that the so-called Catholic church 
has entirely departed from the principles of the founder of Christianity. 
A matter of fact is that this church does not call itself any more Christian, 
but simply Roman Catholic. 

It nevertheless assumes that it is the onl}^ divine church established 
by Christ, and gives the five following marks of its divine institution : 
Unity, Holiness, Catholicity, Apostolicity, Romanism. 

Do those marks prove the divinity- of the Catholic church? Do they 
belong to it ? I do not think so. 

Unity may be one of the distinctive characters of the church of 
Christ. But it may be understood in different wa3^s. Catholics pretend 
that, because the3^ have a center of unit}^ in the Pope, thej^ have exclu- 
sivel}^ that mark of divine institution. But Protestants place the center 
of unit}' in Christ himself, in whom all believe, though thej- ma}" inter- 
pret differenth' secondary- points of his doctrine. 

Have not Catholics their differences? Had thej' not three popes at 
at once? Had they not the long controversies between Thomists and 



CATHOLICISM NO -LONGER THE RELIGION OF CHRIST. 23 

Scottists, between Galileans and Ultramontanes, between fallibilists 
and infallibilists? Had not the dogma of infallibilit}' a great mam' oppo- 
nents among Catholic bishops who did not want to submit, even after 
the proclamation of the infallibility and who, to my knowledge, submit- 
ted onh' when the}- were threatened with excommunication? 

Catholics have their differences, just as Protestants have theirs. 
These differences of opinion do not destroy the unity of the church. 
Christ spoke in a general and broad manner, often in parables, so that 
his doctrine might be interpreted according to the turn of mind of diifer- 
ent nationalities, and adapted to their different characters. The diversity 
of trees and flowers embellishes a garden, and does not prevent it from 
being a unique, beautiful garden. So it is with the difference of opin- 
ion in the church. 

Holiness is assuredly a character of the church of Christ, but is not 
the distinctive mark of the Catholic church. Are not Protestant minis- 
ters and Jewish rabbis, are not Protestant and Jewish families as holy 
in their doctrines, ceremonies and lives as Catholic priests and their 
flocks? I have associated with Protestants and Jews for about fifteen 
3'ears, and I emphaticalh' declare that I have found Protestants and Jews 
if no more, at least as good, as just, as charitable, as moral, as religious 
as the great bulk of Catholics. 

Apostolicity may be also a mark of the catholic church. But has the 
catholic church that mark more than other churches ? Had it not three 
popes at once ? Which was the real one? Had it not interregnums? Prot- 
estant ministers have been ordained b}- men who had been ordained b}- 
Catholic bishops. Before separating from Rome, they were apostolic. 
Did the}' lose that character, when they departed? Myself, I was never 
suspended nor excommunicated. Am I not apostolic as well as Arch- 
bishop Riordan and Pope Leon XIII? 

Catholicity is a great nonsense, because it means that the Church 
covers the whole world. Was ever the Church of Rome realh- Catholic? 
Is it so now ? Is not Protestantism as widely spread as Catholicism? 
Do not the religions of Mahommed, Confucius and Brahma, cover as 
large an area as the Catholic church ? 

Romanistn is the last mark of the Divinitj- of the Catholic church. 
Through generosity, I feel inclined to concede to it that title ; but un- 
fortunately the Romans do not want it. They do not want any more 
Popers' or Catholicism, and the poor old idol of the Vatican is looking 
for a throne in the moon above. 

Roman Catholics, strip 3'ourselves from these marks of divinity 
which you have not. If 3'ou want to be knoAvn such as 3'ou really are, 
in place of those ungrounded marks, write around the walls of 3'our 
churches the following marks which everj'bod}- attributes to 3'ou. 

"Assumption, pride, avarice, bigotrj-, hypocris}-, intolerance, 
cruelt}'." Such are the real characteristics of 3'our church. 

You boast that you have rendered immense ser\'ices to humanit}-. 
But you do not mention the disasters which your wicked passions have 
brought over the world. You do not mention the horrors of long relig- 
ious wars, nor the infamies of the inquisition. 

While Saint Paul sa^'s that we are called to the libert}- of the chil- 
dren of God, you want to enslave minds and consciences, You con- 



24 CATHOLICISM NO LONGER THE RELIGION OF CHRIST. 

demn all means of progress. You show ^-ourselves the enemies of all 
liberties, liberty of thought, liberty of conscience, liberty of the press, 
liberty of education. 

( If you doubt it, 3'ou may consult your syllabus.) 

Has not always \^our church sided with tyrants against oppressed 
people? Has not the union of the altar and throne been consecrated 
for a long time as a principle? 

Nowada^^s, when we see European nations try to shake off the yoke 
of superannuated tyrants ; w^hen kings, queens and emperors are 
trembling on their uncertain thrones ; do we not see Pope Leo XIII 
give them a helping hand? Is it not w^hat he is doing with the queen 
of England, the emperor of Germany and the czar of Russia? Does he 
not even court the favor of the sultan of Constantinople and of the em- 
peror of China? 

Modern ages aspire to libert^^ Poper}^ aspires to tyrann}-. It is 
the reason why Catholicism has lost its grip on Europe, w^here it is justly 
considered as a plague and a scourge. It is the reasoil why Romanism 
throws its covitous eyes upon a new world which it wants to exploit? 
It is the reason why, being played out in Europe, it wants to take hold 
of the fat and beautiful pasturages of America. 

Catholic priests are sharp. The3" know that this new country- is 
disposed more than any other to receive religious teachings, and the}- 
w^ant to indoctrinate it. Irish catholics emigrate here in large numbers 
and multipl}^ in a prodigious w^ay. Their number ranges alread}- be- 
tween seven or eight millions. Many poor catholics, French, Spanish, 
Italians, Poles, etc., flow here from all parts of Europe. As most of 
them come without any resources or any knowledge of the usages and 
language of the countrs^ the}- feel the need to go to religious circles 
for aid and information. Their dirt\' clothing does not allow them to go 
to fashionable Protestant churches, and they go to lower regions, called 
CatJiolic regions. There the}^ register and there they remain. Under the 
instructions of priests, they become naturalized ; they join a semi-polit- 
ico-religious party called '' democratic party,'" composed of southern 
rebels and European emigrants, who receive, on the sly, the inspiration 
of priests, without knowing their ultimate designs. Protestant and 
Jewish politicians fall into their traps. Even American newspapers, to 
obtain or keep their patronage, do not dare to oppose them. 

Friends, this is the foe 3'ou have to combat. Up to the present 
time 3'ou have imagined it was not dangerous. * Be careful. 

Napoleon the first, with a small army of well organized soldiers, 
conquered all combined Europe. Catholicism is your common enem3\ 
Though it is not 3^et very large in number, it is well organized,, and ev- 
er3' member of the church is bound to discipline, the faithful obeying the 
priest, the priest obe3dng the bishop, and the bishop, the pope. 

It is true that you are morally united b3' 3^our belief in Christ and 
the fundamental principles of Christianit3\ But 3^ou have not the ex- 
ternal union which Catholics have. 

I entreat 3'ou to close 3"our ranks and to have a common under- 
standing against 3"our common enem3\ You know, as well as m3^self, 
that ''in union is force,'' Keep that in view, By that sign you shall 
conquer. 



III. 
General Considerations on Catholic Priesthood. 



It is an undeniable fact that the old Catholic countries of Europe, 
which have been, for centuries, under the control of millions of priests 
and monks, have degenerated from their primitive faith and have be- 
come the most incredulous in the world. Why so? Because they have 
been scandalized by those monks and priests. 

France has been for a long time a Catholic country in the hands of 
priests. Is there any country where so much indifferentism, irreligion 
and incredulity prevail? How may we account for it? 

Italy has been for a long time a catholic countr>^ What is to-day 
the religion of Italy? Are the descendants of Victor- Emmanuel and of 
Garibaldi the worshippers of the pope? Do the Romans bless or curse 
His Holiness? 

Spain has been for a long time a Catholic country. What is to-day 
the religion of Spain? I proclaim, without being afraid of contradic- 
tion, that irreligion, indiffirentism and incredulity prevail there as well 
as in France and in Italy. To an}^ one who doubts my word, I give the 
advice to read on this subject a book entitled " Traveling in Spain'' by 
Theophile Gauthier. What is the cause of it? The scandals of the 
clergy. 

I may make an exception in favor of Ireland ; but it is no credit to the 
priests. If the people of that island have kept their primitive faith, it 
is not because their priests are more holy than in any other part of the 
world, but because their worshippers have been kept in such a state of 
ignorance and superstition that they consider their priests as their gods. 
They kneel down before them even in the streets. They consider them 
as impeccable; and, if they find some of them guilty, they are taught 
that it is an act of religion deserving the crown of heaven to throw on 
their sins the mantle of charity and to keep them secret. This is done by 
the old folks born in Ireland. But, it is no more done by the Irish born 
in America. The latter do not kneel any more before their priests in 
the streets. Many dare to look at them in the face, with the idea that 
they have the same nature as any human being and are subject to the 
same weaknesses. 

How is it that men who consecrate themselves to God and to the sal- 
vation of souls do precisely the work of the devil? 

If we study how priests are recruited and ordained, and in what 
condition they are thrown into the world after their ordination ,we shall 
easily understand how naturally they are brought to such disorderly life. 

With a few exceptions, priests are recruited from the lower and 
poorer classes of society. Those having charge of parishes are directed 
to look for young subjects who may be fit to become one of them. The 



26 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD. 

parents and children are invited to the parsonage. The advantages of 
the v^ocation are demonstrated. As a matter of course, the glorification 
of God and sanctification of souls are brought forward. This, at first 
sight, looks grand and honorable. But what strikes most the minds of 
the parents and of the young ones is what follows : 

The priests have a very easy and happy life. They are honored in 
their parishes. They command and they are obeyed. They are not 
obliged to work to earn their daily bread ; the people work for them. 
Money is generously tendered to them. All the goods of the earth flow 
in abundance to their homes. A good table, the best wines and liquors, 
a comfortable house gratuitously supplied, nothing is wanting to them. 
They look like little kings in their little parishes. They have nobody- to 
control them, not even the bishop, who leaves them perfectly quiet, if 
the}' do not trouble his rest, and send regularly to him his cathedrat- 
icum. 

Assuredly the situation is tempting. The parents are tempted, be- 
cause they hope they will receive some assistance from their sons, w^hen 
they will have a good position. The children, who know nothing but 
the advantages of the situation, are also tempted. If they cannot pay 
for their education, collections are made in churches in their behalf. So 
the}^ go to the seminary. I do not mean to sa}- that a vicious education 
is given to them. Assuredly their educators mean well. They tr}^ to 
purify their motives, if those motives are not found entireh^ pure. They 
teach them how to resist the bad passions of their hearts, and how to 
fight the flesh, the world and the devil. They give them the sacred or- 
ders. But, before sending them to the world, as they are to be the 
spiritual physicians of souls, they make to them, for some months, a reg- 
ular course of spiritual medicine. To cure the diseases of the soul, they 
must know them. Therefore, all the evil which is done in the world, in 
ever>^ condition of life, is revealed to them. I remember that I was hor- 
rified when I heard all those horrors. With such good instructions and 
the grace of God which is promised to them, if they correspond to it, 
they are thrown into the world. 

In the beginning, most of them are in a good faith and show^ them- 
selves as true ministers of God. But they come in contact with the old 
ones, who sometimes deride their simplicity and youth. They are not 
long W'ithout observing that the theor}^ taught in the seminar}- and the 
practice in parishes are things ver>^ different. Instead of finding holy 
men around them, they discover that the clergy- is a true wicked world, 
contaminated with all the passions which the}^ are destined to combat — 
pride, envy, jealousy, slandering, contention, fighting, ambition, avar- 
ice, sensuality, drunkenness, immoralit}^ Their good faith is shaken, and 
the number is small of those who go, without danger, through those in- 
fluences, and those which are in wait for them in the discharge of 
their functions. 

When priests are placed over the people, with such honors as 
they receive, their hearts are puffed up with pride. What is more proud 
and more domineering than a Catholic priest ? Who can resist a priest? 
Who has not experienced the effects of his pride and of his insolence? 

Pride is the mother of all vices. Once in possession of their heart, 
pride pushes them to ambition. Who is the priest who does not con- 



GEXKRAI. CONSIDKRATIONS ON CATHOI.IC PRIESTHOOD. 27 

tinually dream of a large parish ? Ambition and covetousness are sis- 
ters. Not only a large parish is coveted, but a rich and lucrative one. 
If there is any chance to obtain one, how man}^ flatteries and intrigues 
will assail the bishop ? If there is no chance, the bishop is an object of 
attack and continual mockerv'. If a priest obtains some special favor, I 
pity him ; all the bullets of envy w411 fall upon him ! How many priests 
have been ruined and destroyed by the calumnies of their fellow-priests ! 
How many bishops, especialty in America, have been obliged to leave 
their dioceses, on account of the persecutions of their priests ! It must 
be known that, in America, bishops are not the rulers of their dioceses, 
but mere tools in the hands of priests, who, after having formed strong 
rings among themselves, give to the bishops the direction the}^ please ; 
and, if the bishops do not follow their wa^'S, they threaten to not sup- 
port them. How man}- priests are left in their functions, only because 
bishops do not know what to do with them and are afraid of scandal ! 
How many priests remain in office only to make their living, and how 
many would leave the altar, if they knew what to do in the world ! 
How many times I have heard Catholics who were aware of these facts, 
exclaim with sorrow: "Oh, I pit}' the bishops! What a hard job they 
have with their priests! " 

Being independent of their bishops, the}^ soon become indepen- 
dent of their people. They look at them as at an ignorant flock 
wdiich is obliged to give to them its wool and milk, in exchange for 
a lean spiritual nurture which is parsimoniousl}^ granted. In the opin- 
ion of priests, the people ought not to know much. To dominate 
them better, they must be kept in ignorance, and the preachers will 
have a better opportunity to indulge in laziness. And how many 
priests I have heard saying; "I do not want to study any more; I know 
more than is necessary' for ni}' parishioners. " Man}' priests have mocked 
me, when I told them I was preparing m}- sermons. The}- never pre- 
pare theirs. Two or three minutes of reflection enable them to throw 
a few generahties to the avidity of their flocks. After that, they go to 
take a rest. They indulge in good cheer, wine and liquors. They pass 
their time in smoking, drinking, gambling, gossiping or sleeping. Such 
is their holy life. 

It is verv' rare to see a Catholic priest a friend of study. It is very 
rare to see one reading the Bible. How many are quite strangers to 
the Bible ! How man}- have lost even the habit of prayer ! 

That life of pride, ambition, covetousness, jealousy, independence 
of the bishop and of their parishioners, that love of good living and idle- 
ness announces already a great peril for the virtue of those priests. 

What becomes of that virtue, when they are continually obliged to 
hear, in the confession-box, the sins of their fellow-men; w-hen they are 
obliged to hear the most horrible details in the life of married men and 
women, young men, young ladies, sinners of every kind? Will not the 
remembrance of these details come to their minds in their- moments of 
idleness and drunkenness and poison their souls ? If a miracle of grace 
does not keep them in duty, are they not tempted to indulge in their pas- 
sions ? They know the weaknesses of everybody. They have the con- 
fidence and sometimes the love of their people, and they know it. They 



28 GENEjRAl, CONSIDERATIONS ON CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD. 

know that many weak minds love the forbidden fruit, and that, precisely 
because the priests have made a vow of chastity, some hearts are more 
intensely inflamed for them. Then, if they choose to make a victim, 
they can easily find one. If, through prudence, they do not commit 
themselves, their minds are poisoned, and the flower of their virtue is 
gone. 

Moreover, they are obliged to recite every da^^ their Breviar}', con- 
taining seven parts, called seven hours. The omission or recitation 
with distraction of each hour constitutes a deadly sin. The}^ every day 
offer the sacrifice of mass and administer the sacraments. For all those 
functions, they must not have a single mortal sin on their conscience, 
and they must be pure like angels. If they are not so, they commit 
sacrileges and profane the sacraments. 

Light is incompatible with darkness and sanctity with iniquity. 
How can they conciliate these things in their conscience ? They feel 
that they are guilt}^, that they are no more in the grace and friendship 
of God. In the beginning, they may feel some trouble and remorse. 
But by degrees, they do not feel them. Accustomed to ill treat sacred 
things, they begin to distrust their reality; then the}^ doubt; then they 
do not believe; then they become perfectly incredulous. How many 
priests I have heard raising doubts and unfavorabh^ arguing on the prin- 
cipal points of the Catholic doctrine, on the Incarnation, the sacrifice of 
Mass, the Eucharist, the Sacraments, the Indulgences, the Virgin Marv', 
the Purgator\^ and Hell, the authority of the pastors of the church! 
How many I have heard mocking and cursing their bishops, whom they 
called fools and tyrants ! ! ! 

In consequence of that disposition of mind and incredulity, their 
life is nothing any more but a life of hypocrisy- they indulge secretly in 
all the bad passions of their hearts, and their only object is to make a 
business out of their sacred functions. The church is nothing anj^ more 
but a shop where they make money. Their only object is to enrich 
themselves, and to enjo}^ life in the best way the}^ can. 

Where are the priests poor ? Who does not deplore their rapacity in 
the discharge of their sacred functions ? No low mass, unless you pay 
one dollar. No high mass, unless you pay fi^ve dollars. No baptism, 
unless 3^ou pay three dollars. No marriage, unless you pay ten dollars. 
No dispensation, unless you pay ten, tw^enty, a hundred or two hundred 
dollars, according to the case. Give money to the priests, and 3'ou will 
obtain ever^^ favor — of eating meat on Fridaj^s, of marrvnng 3'our rela- 
tives, of working on SundaA^s. With mone}^, 3^ou will get plenary indul- 
gences and avoid the flames of purgator3^ 

I have heard a great many priests saj^ that, when they were short 
of masses, they used to preach a good sermon on purgatory-, and that 
mau}^ good hearts, w^ho wanted to deliver their relatives and friends from 
the horrible flames, rushed to them with their hands full of money to 
order masses. 

Besides a splendid residence, well furnished at the expense of their 
parishioners; besides the price of their masses, christenings and mar- 
riages, thej^ want a salars^ of one thousand dollars a year. 

Twdce a 3^ear, at Christmas and Easter Sunda3^, the3^ make, in their 
churches, for their own benefit, a collection, w^hich, in their estimation, 



GKNE:rAI. considerations on CATHOI.IC PRIKSTHOOD. 29 

must produce a sum of five hundred dollars each time. And to obtain 
that sum, this is the way I have seen it practiced by an Irish priest of 
the State of New York. He announces that collection several Sundays 
in advance. He says that he will take it up himself, that he will be fol- 
lowed by a secretary provided vvnth a register, that all those who will 
give one dollar and above will be registered with the amount given, and 
that, on the next Sunday, their names and offerings will be published 
from the pulpit. He adds that no mention will be made of those who 
give less than one dollar, and that an offering of fifty cents is considered 
as nothing — and what is published is executed. 

What a torture for the poor Irishmen ! There are some laborers who 
earn only two dollars a day and even less and who are obliged to sup- 
port a wife and five or six children. There are poor servant girls who 
are obliged to save three-fourths of their earnings to support their old 
father and mother; and, though they are already overtaxed for the pew- 
rents, the collections of every Sunday, the christenings, masses, marriages, 
funerals and different sodalities, they see themselves obliged to give 
twice a year, as a present to the priest, a big sum of mone}^! If they 
do not do it, thc}^ will be an object of contempt and mockery, they will 
be reputed stingy and mean, they will meet the dark frowns of the pas- 
tor, their children will be neglected or unjustly punished! What a tor- 
ture for those poor Irish people! They murmur in secret; but, for their 
honor and the interest of their children, they give. The}^ give in mur- 
muring, but they give. 

After the collection is made and counted, the priests who have 
gathered the most money boast of their success. They are reputed to 
be smart and capable. In the eyes of the bishop, they deser\^e to rule a 
large parish, as if the whole merit of the priest were to be able to raise 
money. In their own eyes, they are more intelligent than their fellow- 
priests less lucky, and, consequently, surround them with a kind of com- 
miseration. On the other hand, the priests less fortunate groan and 
complain — ''That does not payV they say in their abjection, ''my masses, 
marriages and collections do not pay \ " 

On telling one of those priests that I was receiving only fift}^ cents 
for each of my masses, he said: " You cannot say a good mass for fifty 
cents. A fifty cent mass is not good." So, if you have not one dollar 
to give to those big priests for each of their masses, they will condemn 
3^our poor father and mother to remain a little longer in the flames. 
And, on telling him I baptized for one dollar, the same priest said: " I 
never baptize for less than three dollars." So, in the creed of those big 
priests, three dollars are necessar}^ to open the doors of the church, and 
to give the right to pay for all the masses, sacraments and indulgences 
in possession of the church, and to enter the Kingdon of Heaven. 

I heard that a part of the collections made for the Pope and other 
religious purposes does not go to its destination, but is kept for private 
use, and that some priests keep for themselves the stolen money, which 
is restituted in their own hands by the means of confeSvSion. 

Where does all that money go ? Some priests put it in the banks, 
buy houses and lands; some enrich their families; some dissipate it in 
parties and enjoyments of all kinds. The liquor stores have a great part 



30 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD. 

of it. How maii}^ barrels oi" whiskey, sherry, claret and brandy are 
swallowed up by those throats continually dried by talking, .smoking 
and even b}^ the drink itself? There is no house where as much whis- 
key is drunk as in that of priests. Many times, I had a good oppor- 
tunity to laugh, when I saw poor Irish drunken men and women come 
to take the pledge from those drunken priests. After a few jokes, those 
priests began to rinse their mouths with water in order to destroy the 
smell. Then they went with majesty to the miserable sinners. The 
latter knelt before a crucifix. The}^ made a little prayer in which they 
promised not to touch a drop of liquor until the next time. Finally they 
gave to the priests a few dollars as a punishment for their gluttony and 
a pledge of their repentance, sajdng, "Take it, father, I would drink it; 
I prefer 3'ou to have it than those bad houses," and the priests took the 
money. They returned to their smoking and drinking room, and, con- 
tinuing their libations, they said laughingh^, "How stupid they are." 

Such is the wa}- those priests fulfill their sacred duties. 

When I was in New York, I read in the Catholic Reflector a very 
strong article against American priests, written h\ Louis \^euillot, chief 
editor of the Catholic paper Z' Univers. That article denounced, in vio- 
lent terms, the corruption of American priests, their idleness, the abuse 
they make of their people, their too great freedom, the too large amount 
of money they dispose of, their lack of zeal and of sacerdotal spirit, all 
their efforts being limited to say mass, marry^ baptize, bury and to be 
paid for it. That article, which can be found in the Catholic Reflector^ 
(either in 1871 or 1872), was rebuked by an American priest. But, b}- 
what I know, Louis Veuillot w^as right. 

What is the religious zeal of those priests ? The}^ teach that, out 
of the Catholic church, there is no salvation possible. If the}^ believe 
it, wh}^ are thej^ not more ardent to convert Protestants, Jews and Gen- 
tiles ? Do they try it ? Are there many Jewish or Protestant families 
visited by Catholic priests with regard to the dearest interests of their 
souls ? No ; priests keep away from them, except in politics and when 
they need them for their own advancement. 

And with regard to their own people, what are the}- doing to keep 
them in the w^ay of righteousness ? Happil}^ for them, their people go 
to church, because they are afraid to go to purgator>^ or hell. If 
their people were not afraid of eternal damnation, their business would 
not be so flourishing, and many Catholic churches would fall into 
bankruptcy. 

They say that Catholicism is spreading, and that man}- new dioceses 
are formed. This is not certainh' owing to the zeal of priests, but to 
the natural causes which I have alread}' mentioned. Whatever ma}' be 
that apparent progress, the da}' will come when Americans will open 
their e3'es as Europeans have opened theirs, and when, on account of 
the lack of zeal, good examples and disinterestedness of priests, the Cat- 
holicism of this country will resemble , that of Europe, and degenerate 
into indifference, if not into irreligion. 

The general considerations contained in this chapter give already 
an idea of the disease existing in the Catholic clerg3^ The details, which 
I will give, and which I have selected among the mau}^ contained in my 
former pamphlet, wall reveal it more completely. 



GKNKRAIv CONSIDERATIONS ON CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD. 3 1 

I pray the reader to believe, that, in giving these details, my inten- 
tion is not to destroy in him the religious principles he may have re- 
ceived. Let every man love his God and try to be good, just, charitable, 
temperate and moral. Nothing is more enviable and more praiseworthy 
than the fear of God and the practice of virtue. 

My present aim is onl}^ to unmask those criminal hypocrites who 
have the impudence to declare themselves the only representatives of 
God on earth, who condemn all those who do not bow before them, who 
are so cruel and so intolerant, and who want to put under their heels the 
whole world and especiallj^ this, our Protestant countr3\ 

Kind reader, while perusing the following pages, raise your heart 
to God; and, while 3^ou will tell him that 3^ou are willing to obey His 
law, conceive the greatest horror for the crimes I will relate, and the 
most profound contempt for the human monsters who are base enough 
to perpetrate them. 



IV. 

Depravity of the Catholic Priesthood in Europe. 



From m3' infanc}^ my idea was to become a priest. My parents, 
though Cathohcs, did not care much to have me embrace that career, 
because they knew too much about priests. M}^ father especially, 
w^hose only son I w^as, repeated to me incessantly, "I should prefer you 
to be an honest citizen, rather than a bad priest." But his good advices 
did not produce any effect on my mind. I was irresistibly drawn to- 
wards the priesthood. Knowing that there were bad priests, I wished 
to become a good one. 

Yielding to my reiterated prayers, ni}^ father sent me to the semi- 
nary. There I saw nothing but the good and edifying, and was per- 
fectl}^ satisfied and happ}^ 

Though several scandals were given in the diocese bj^ Catholic 
priests, especially, (i) b}' a Mr. Arfeu, an ex-professor of rhetoric at the 
seminary, who had been obliged to run away for having ruined an hon- 
orable young girl; (2) by a Mr. Babb, who had been professor of litera- 
ture at the same seminary and had abandoned the priesthood to enter 
the universit}^; (3) b}^ a Mr. Corniau, vicar of the church of Notre Dame 
of Dijon, who was suspended for cause of gross immoralit}- (4) by the 
pastor of Aubigny, who, though being fift}^ j^ears of age, was presented 
with a little bab}^ by his old servant-girl, fort\'-eight 3'ears of age, I felt 
entirely inclined to embrace the orders, and I entered the great seminary 
with the intention of becoming a good priest. 

A few months before my ordination, how^ever, a scandal of a more 
serious character threw me into great perplexity. A priest of fine ap- 
pearance, by the name of Borne, pastor of the parish of Chaumont-le- 
Bois, near Chatillon-sur-Seine, was suspected b3^ his parishioners of 
holding intimate relations wath a young lady of his parish. The 3'oung 
men of the parish, to make ever3^thing more loveh", threw several times 
a bed of flowers on the road from the parsonage to the girl's residence. 
Finally, the girl was no more seen. Kver3^bod\' was aware that she 
had a child. B3" and b3% the girl appeared in public. On seeing her 
features, the people naturall3^ asked: "Where is the child?" An in- 
quir3^ was made. Witnesses were found who said, "we have seen the 
pastor ver3^ late at night doing something in the cemeter3^" A search 
was made, which resulted in the discover3% under a bush, of a fresh 
little grave containing a little child. A pln'sician was called, who, after 
examination, certified that the child was born with all the conditions 
necessar3^ to live, but had been violenth^ suffocated immediateh' after 
his birth. The girl was examined and proved to have been confined. 
The priest was denounced and accused of complicity in the infanticide. 



DKPRAVITY OF TH:^ CATHOIvIC PRIKSTHOOD IN KUROPK. 33 

The ge'ndarmes were summoned to come and take hold of him. For 
several days they searched for him in vain, because he had hid himself. 
"Where is he? Where is he?" was the general demand. Finally 
he was found. Where was he found ? Nobody could guess. He 
had hidden himself in the very bed of his mistress, and there he was 
found by the gendarmes. When the news of his capture came to Dijon, 
with all the horrible circumstances, no one could control his hilarity. 
^'■Per qu(E peccavit ho77to, per hmc et torquetur^^^ such was the general saying. 

The priest and the girl were both arrested under the charge of 
complicity in the infanticide. They were brought to Dijon amidst the 
sarcasms and blasphemies of the people. At that time, we did not dare 
to appear in the streets, because we were bound to hear these terrible 
vociferations, which I heard myself: ' ' Death to the priests ! Death to 
the murderers! They are all the same!" 

The girl and the priest were both tried by a jury. The girl was 
sentenced to several years in jail. During the trial of the priest, the in- 
furiated populace uttered no other words than these: "Death to the 
priest! Death to the priest!" and when the verdict was made public 
that the priest had been condemned to death, there was general ap- 
plause, and the public conscience seemed to be relieved. 

At that time, if I had not been engaged in the orders, I should 
probably have left the seminary. I communicated my trouble to my con- 
fessor, who tvi/ld me: "Go ahead; do not be afraid, you will be a good 
priest." So, I remained in the seminary, and I was ordained a priest 
in the year 1857. 

After my ordination, I was sent, as an assistant priest, to the little 
town of Nuits-sous-Beaune. I was quietly fulfilling my duties, when 
Mr. Garnier, the pastor of the town, took me apart with the other assis- 
tant priests, and made to us the following declaration: 

" Mr. Thomas, pastor of Gilh^ is an immoral priest. He has suc- 
"cessively seduced two nuns of his parish, whom the convent has been 
"obliged to recall on his account. His sei"vant-girl was lately known 
"to be pregnant. He sent her to Lyons to get rid of her child, and, 
"upon her return, he took her again into his service. If he is not the 
' ' father of the child, he approves of her conduct. In every respect, he 
"is a bad priest. " 

The same declaration was repeated to all the priests of the canton. 
At the conference of Villy-le-Moutiers, where we all assembled, Mr. 
Thomas was put on the stand and compelled to confess his guilt. We 
made a petition to the bishop for his interdict and our petition was sent. 
But, Mr. Thomas was a talented priest. He was, besides, the friend of 
several dignitaries of the church. He was not interdicted; he was 
simply removed and appointed to one of the most lucrative parishes of 
the diocese. A few years after, he was transferred to a first-class parish; 
so that it was a common saying among priests : ' ' Do you want to get a 
good parish ? the only way is to make bastards." 

Passing over other facts of the same nature which occurred, in that 
locality during my sojourn in Nuits-sous-Beaune, I will quote a more 
serious fact which occurred in the same district, in the year of grace 
1888. We read, indeed, in the Le Petit Calif or?iien^ in its issue of 
August 12th last, the following item; 



34 DEPRAVITY OF THE CATIIOIJC PRIESTHOOD IX EUROPE. 

"The old abbey of Citeaux was converted, some forty years ago, 

* into a penitentiary-agricultural colony, where young convicts are kept 
' for correction until the age of twenty. Placed under the direction of 
' the brothers of Saint Joseph and supported by the government, that col- 
' ony was prospering and contained about a thousand children, when the 

* discovery of acts of revolting immorality provoked in France great in- 
' dignation. An inquest was ordered by the parquet of Dijon, and tlie 
'result was that, during a long series of years, two hundred children, 
' instead of becoming better, have been soiled and corrupted there, and 
' the establishment has been a place of orgies organized by the brothers 

* of Saint Joseph. The chamber of deputies, alarmed, has voted the 
'urgency of a project of law taking awa^^ from religious congregations 
' the direction of penitentiary-agricultural colonies. The inquest about 
' the scandals of Citeaux has brought, up to this time, the arrest of five 
'brothers. The police are looking for five others. Six others, who 
'left the colony in 1886, are under arrest. A brother of Soissons has 
' been arrested at the convent of Saint-Medard of Soissons and has con- 
'fessed the facts which are imputed to him." 

After having remained one year as an assistant priest in the town 
of Nuits-sous-Beaune, though being only twent3-five years of age, I 
was appointed pastor of the parish of Montagn^'-les-Beaune. 

That poor parish had been upset by a miserable priest, whose name 
was Febvre. Many acts of immorality were imputed to him. He was 
even reputed to live in concubinage wdth his own sister. A 3^oung lad}-, 
b}^ the name of Bouzereau, was taking care of his vestr^^-room and was 
remarked because of her assiduities to the pastor. As a reward for her 
kind attentions, the pastor found for her a good husband, whose name 
was Pallegoix. That man was a good Israelite, without any malice, 
and the people were saying that he had good shoulders and could easily 
carry the burdens of the priest. So, when the bride came to her term, 
many went to see the baby and found the resemblance perfect. He re- 
sembled, indeed, his father, the priest. They laughed. What could 
they do more? On that account, the husband Pallegoix received a 
funny nickname, and the priest continued his business. 

As it may be seen, the priest had a big heart, affectionate^ opened 
to all. A servant-girl of the neighborhood became his favorite. Many 
little presents which appeared on her person attracted attention. All 
at once, she became sick, and, on the recommendation of the pastor, she 
was received at the hospital of Beaune and attended to by the sisters. 
What her sickness was was 'very soon found. The crime of abortion 
had been committed by some unknown person. When the girl reco"^'- 
ered, a committee was appointed to induce her b}- all possible means to 
make her deposition. She confessed everv^thing, and sent publicl}^ 
back to the priest her silver comb, her bracelets and her ear-rings. An 
explosion of anger occurred in the parish and in all the neighborhood. 
The parishioners, so long scandalized, roared for justice, and a mob of 
about one hundred men, armed with sticks, ran to the parsonage. 
They whipped the priest, they spat on his face, as well as on the face of 
his sister. They threw his furniture out of the windows, and expelled 
him ignominiously. As the rumor was great, and as the sisters of the 



DEPRAVII^Y OF ^HK CAlTHOtlC PRlKSTHOOD IN i^URO^K. 35 

hospital were implicated in the affair, the priests of the vicinity received 
the order to extenuate the facts from their pulpits. But it was of no 
avail. The guilty priest went to the bishop, crying for mercy. He 
was sent for eight days to a house of repentance. Afterwards, he was 
appointed to a nice parish in the canton of Chatillon-sur-Seine. There, 
if he is not dead, he preaches good morals and sanctifies souls. 

When I was appointed to that parish, I was recommended not to 
allow anybody to speak to me about that priest. As I was very young, 
to put myself out of suspicion, I took into ni}^ service an old lady sev- 
enty-eight 3'ears old. Afterwards, I took with me my old father and 
mother, having nobody but them in my house. 

To occupy my leisure time, and in conformity with the recommen- 
dations given to all priests, I formed in my house a little class consist- 
ing of four boys, whom I taught French, Latin and Greek, and whom 
I destined for the seminary. 

By and by, I heard that some people found fault that I kept in my 
house a particular little boy. I did not know the true motive of it, 
until my mother revealed it to me. I knew that the mother of the boy 
had been accused of ill conduct with the priest Febvre; but, as I had 
no proof that the boy was the son of the priest, I kept him in my 
house. 

Three years after, the priest Febvre came to see his former parish. 
He paid me a visit and wanted absolutely to see the boy. The boy 
was called. The priest looked at him again and again and finally kissed 
him. I was really amazed to see such resemblance between the boy 
and the priest. When the priest had taken leave of me, many people, 
and especially Mr. De Charodon, the brother-in-law of General De 
Cisse}^, Ex-Minister of War, came to me, saying: "How did you dare 
' ' to receive that scandalous priest in 3'our house ? Did you not remark 
' ' his resemblance to the little Pallegoix ? — the same hair, the same fore- 
"head, the same nose, the same cheeks, the same eye-brows, the same 
"mouth? We have all noticed that for a long time, and we notice 
"it now more than ever. For 3'our honor, do not receive that priest in 
"your house any more." 

I was troubled in mind and conscience. I then became disgusted 
with the child. I said to the mother that he was not fit to become a 
priest. She cried. Her ardent desire w^as to make him a priest. She 
had gone to consult on that subject the holy Cure d'Ars, and the holy 
priest had advised her to consecrate him to God. She was disposed to 
make any sacrifice to attain that end; and, in fact, at the re-opening of 
the schools, she sent him to the seminary of Plombieres-les-Dijon. But, 
soon the rumor spread out, even among the seminarians, that he was 
the son of a priest, and he could not be kept in the diocese of Dijon. 
He was sent to the seminary of Avignon, to complete his studies. From 
that time, I did not hear of him. He was a relative of Mgr. Pallegoix, 
late bishop of Si am. 

During my sojourn in the parish of Montagny, I was called to wit- 
ness a great many things no less sad and strange, which for brevity's 
sake, I must pass over. Here is, however, a fact which I cannot 
overlook: 



36 DEPRAVITY OF THK CATHOI.IC PRIESTHOOD IN EUROPE. 

The parish of St. Marv'-sur-Ouche, which was adjoining mine, had 
been, some 3^ears before, the witness of one of the most horrible crimes 
that a priest can commit. The priest of that parish had a ser\'ant-girl 
about whom something mysterious was said. What the mystery was 
nobod}^ knew exactly. All that was known was the following fright- 
ful result: One day, in the morning, as some people were going to the 
river which flowed below the village, they perceived in the water a sack 
stained wath blood, and some blood escaping from it. A crime was im- 
mediately suspected and the sack was brought to the bank ot the river. 
What an horrible spectacle! It was the bloody corpse of a woman cut 
into pieces; her arms, head, legs and body being all mutilated. The 
head was recognized as being the head of the ser\^ant of the priest. An 
entrance was made into the house of the assassin. But he w^as not 
there. The bloody traces and the instruments of his crime onlj^ 
w^ere found. The pastor had escaped. He was passing to Italy, when 
he was caught by the police, tried and condemned to death. 

I remember still wath horror the frightful details of the trial, the 
pictures circulating publicly, representing the priest, dressed in his 
cassock, choking his ser^^ant-girl, mutilating her blood}^ limbs, putting 
them in a sack and carrvdng them on his shoulders to the river below. 

The 3'oung generation has still that horrible crime present to its 
mind. There is no parish more impious and more incredulous. I preached 
in that parish on a feast-day. During the night, while man}- people 
w^ere at rest and others were drunk and disorderly, a fire broke out in 
the dancing-hall, and the w-hole village was destroj-ed. It was com- 
monly said it w-as a punishment from God for the crimes committed by 
priests, and for the impiety of the people. 

After five years' residence in the parish of Montagn}-, I was appoin- 
ted to the parish of Prenois, near Dijon. That parish had been scandal- 
ized for many 3^ears b}' an old priest, called Ormance}-. His principal 
fault was to drink to excess, and, for that fault, he had been suspended. 
He was living in the same parish with an old female companion, in an 
old shanty which he owned. Though he was degraded, and was many 
times found lying drunk in the streets, pursued and hooted at by chil- 
dren, he provoked still some sympathy, and man}- good souls endeavored 
to relieve him. I tried to raise him from his abjection. I went to see 
him. I invited him to come and see me. I made him believe that, if 
he should behave, the bishop would restore him to his functions and 
that I would help him with all m}- power. Gradually, the old priest 
ceased to drink. He came again to the church, from which he had 
been absent for several 3-ears. He listened regularh- to ni}^ sermons, 
which he admired for their simplicity and solidit}-. During Lent, 
in a revival, I endeavored to convert the ex-pastor as well as the 
flock. And I succeeded, indeed; for, on Easter Sunday-, I had the 
consolation of seeing the old pastor and almost all m}' parishioners re- 
ceive from me the sacraments of Penance and Eucharist. I. cannot 
remember without emotion that day, one of the happiest of my life, 
when, after the divine service and a few^ words appropriate to the occa- 
sion, all m\' people, like mj-self, w^ere shedding tears through gratitude 
to God for the renovation of the parish. 



DEPRAVITY OF THEJ CATHOI.IC PRIESTHOOD IN KUROPeJ. 57 

When everything was so encouraging for me, I had the soirow to 
contemplate the most horrid clerical scandals in the parishes surround- 
ing mine. I will not say all; I will only dwell on three instances of 
iniquity. 

In the parish of Malain, situated on the railroad line from Paris to 
lyyons, there was living an old priest, about sixty years of age, 
by the name of Couhard. Though old, he was an immoral man. 
The priests themselves accused him of having successively seduced three 
of his female teachers. The people of Malain had often petitioned the 
bishop for his removal. But, as he was rich and influential, and as he 
knew something about the bishop who had been with him employed in 
the diocese of Versailles, the bishop did not dare to touch him. 

Once, a deputation of the parish, composed of the mayor and super- 
visors, went to the bishop, asking his removal. They recited their 
motives, and the bishop listened to them attentively. They thought 
the}^ had gained their cause, when His Lordship, looking at them with 
a smile, told them, "I see, m}^ friends, that your pastor is very guilty. 
I will therefore give him the greatest punishment a man can receive. 
I will leave him in the middle of his enemies." 

There was no reply possible. The authorities of the village left the 
bishop w^ith contempt, and waited for a better opportunity. The oppor- 
tunity was not long in coming. The pastor, knowing the answer of the 
bishop, became bolder than ever. As he had some fear that an assault 
would be made on his house, he prepared himself to resist the force. 
He bought guns and pistols, swords and daggers, and placed them in 
position in every part of the house. I heard him once threatening with 
death whomsoever would attempt to act against him. No violence was 
made to him. But a very appropriate attack came from his female 
teacher, who declared herself to be pregnant by him. The pastor re- 
pelled the accusation, charging it to his enemies. Nobody could tell 
the truth, until the girl was confined. At that very moment, we were 
obliged to go to the house of that priest for an ecclesiastical conference. 
As we were passing through the vineyards, we were saluted all along 
the road with these amiable expressions: "See the Calottins; they go 
to the christening of their child." We were ashamed. We wrote to 
the bishop that we did not w^ant to go any more to the house of that 
priest, whom w^e believed to be guilty. 

When the girl was restored to health, she began a lawsuit against 
the priest. The case was called before the supreme court of Dijon and 
a verdict was rendered against the priest. The bishop was obliged to 
suspend him for eight days. He sent him to a monaster}^ to make some 
expiation for his little sins. Afterwards, he appointed him to the large 
parish of Mennessaire, near his own village and his large properties. 

A little further, in the village of Fleurey-sur-Ouche, was a priest 
with the name of Moriseau. About fifteen years before, he had been 
expelled from the diocese for immorality. He came to America and 
founded a parish in the city of New Orleans, where he remained over 
ten years. What he did in that parish, I cannot say. All I know is, 
that, during the civil war between the North and the South, he returned 
to France with an yearly income of two thousand dollars. He bought, 



;^H DEPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN EUROPE. 

in the village of Fleurey-sur-Ouclie, a magnificent residence. He was 
leading a very high hfe and living like a prince. He had three servant- 
girls, especially a beautifnl young Creole whom he had Ijrought with 
him from New Orleans. That beautiful Creole was often seen driving 
with him in the streets. Dressed sometimes as a priest, sometimes as a 
hunter, with a gun on his shoulder and dogs at his sides, he was unit- 
ing in himself the life of a monk with the life of a man of pleasure. He 
was generally called 2, piqiie-assiette^ and known as drinking ver\^ hard. 
Once, during a revival in the church of A^elars-sur-Ouche, he entered 
the church in a state of complete drunkenness and fell flat on the pave- 
ment of the church. The people were obliged to help him to get upon 
his feet. He was carefully taken to the vestrs^-room, thence to the pas- 
tor's house. The pastor w^as indignant, and that scandal injured his 
revival a great deal. Yet, a person was touched b}^ the grace of God. 
The young and beautiful Creole w^ent for confession to a father Jesuit. 
The order was given to her to leave the house of the priest. She left 
him, in fact, to lead a hol}^ life. But, b}- and b}', as she said, she felt 
lonesome and without friends, and she returned to her vomit. She re- 
mained with the priest, until he was attacked b}^ a ^-iolent sickness. 
At his death-bed, he became repentant. He asked the bishop to send 
him his pardon and blessing. The bishop sent him both, with a picture 
signed by his ow^n hand; and the priest died with true signs of repen- 
tance, bequeathing to his lovely Creole an 3'earh^ income of one hundred 
dollars. 

A little further, in the village of Saint Mary-sur-Ouche, was another 
priest about thirt3'-eight 3'ears of age. His name was Aubelle. He 
was born in Dijon. Hisfamih' was vers' well known. He had been edu- 
cated b}^ a priest called I^eboeuf, before the latter had been raised to the 
dignit}^ of vicar-general. I knew nothing about this Mr. Aubelle, whom 
I considered as a big priest. 

In the month of Jul}^ 1867, that priest in\4ted me to pay him a 
visit. He had built a beautiful church and a beautiful residence, which 
he wanted to show me. I answ^ered his invitation. What occurred in 
his house, when I was there, is described in m}' former pamphlet, and 
has been read b}- a great man}^ M3' friends have advised me, through 
decency, not to publish the details, which I can give to anybody' who 
wants to know them. All that I can sa\' is that this priest Aubelle 
tried, persuasiveh' at first, forcibl}' afterwards, to commit on me infam- 
ous acts of sodom3'. 

The next da3^, I went to see the priest of Lantena3^, who was m3^ 
neighbor and who had in his compan3' another priest, the pastor of 
Baulme-la-Roche. I told them what that miserable priest had attempt- 
ed to do to me. The3^ answered me that the3-- were not astonished at it, 
because he had done the same thing to other priests and even to the 
teacher of his village. The3^ advised me to go to the bishop and to tell 
him m3' stor3'. I told them I would go. 

I went to see the bishop and gave him all the details of that strange 
affair. His Lordship listened to me attentivel3^ and said conclusiveh- 
"We shall call Mr. Aubelle and question him; afterwards, we shall call 
both of 3'ou to the officialit3\" 



DEPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRiKvSTHOOD IN EUROPE. 39 

Aubelle was called several times to the house of the bishop. As 
there were a great many charges against him, he had a hard time, A 
countryman of mine, named Babuteau, whose brother-priest was my 
friend, and who was living just opposite the house of the bishop, told me 
that he saw Aubelle go many times out of the house of the bishop, sad, 
humiliated and down-hearted. 

However, things were going on ver}-^ slowl3\ Aubelle had many 
influential friends in Dijon. The vicar-general had educated him and 
was his protector. As the trial was dela3'ed too long, I went to see the 
bishop and complained of being distrusted. The bishop told me can- 
didl}^, "we know that Mr. Aubelle is guilty-, but he is from Dijon. He 
has here a large and influential family and a great many friends. If we 
suspend him, what will become of him and what will the feelings of his 
famih- and friends be ? If we interdict him, he will come to drag his 
cassock in the streets of the city and be a cause of scandal to the 
church." I answered the bishop: "My Lord, I have done my duty. 
All I have to do now is to leave the matter in your hands. If you want 
to keep that man in office, it is 3- our affair. As for me, I cannot remain 
an3'- more in his neighborhood. I cannot associate wnth him an3^ more. 
As the accusation I have made against him is known to a great many 
priests, I am sure he has not ver3^ good feelings for me, and I would be 
afraid to meet him alone in the midst of a forest. I finally insinuated 
to the bishop that I should be vefy glad to be appointed to another par- 
ish far from that priest, and His Lordship promised me kindly to do so. 

The next da3% the bishop, probabl3^ to lull me asleep, sent me the 
following letter written in French, but correctly translated into English: 

Dijon, Sept. 23d, 1867. 
Reverend Dear Sir: (Mofisieur le aire.) 

I forgot 3^esterda3' to pra3'' 3^ou to address to me (in a sealed letter) 
in writing, the verbal complaint which 3^ou have committed to us, con- 
cerning that miserable Mr. A. You have alluded to it, fifteen da3^s ago, 
in one of 3'our letters, and 3'ou expressed 3^our indignation that we were 
maintaining such a man in his functions. We have given notice to Mr. 
A. of 3-our verbal accusation. He has repelled it violent^, and has told 
us that he would def3^ 3^ou to renew it in his presence. As we had 
nothing in our hands to second 3^our words, and, as we were expecting 
some information from elsewhere, we went no further. But, we cannot let 
3'ou go without asking from 3''ou a detailed deposition, written and cer- 
tified by 3'ou, in order that w^e ma3^ make use of it at the opportune 
time. I understand that it is painful for 3^ou to make such a deposition. 
But 3''ou will understand also that such a deposition is indispensable in 
enabling us to act, when the circumstances will allow us to do it. You 
shall indicate A. but b3^ this initial, and 3'ou shall send me those notes 
in a sealed letter as soon as possible. 

Anew, m3^ dear pastor, the assurance of the paternal affection of 
3'our bishop. 

f Francis, Bishop of Dijon. 

After reception of that letter, I sent, in writing, all the details of 
the affair. I requested the bishop to place me in the presence of Au- 



40 DEPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN EUROPE. 

belle. I asked for the convocation of an ecclesiastical tribunal. I offered 
to sustain before that tribunal and before Mr. Aubelle himself the accu- 
sation I had made against him by word and in writing and to compell 
Mr. Aubelle to confess his guilt in my presence. 

My letter remained unanswered. The bishop was old and weak 
and did not know what to do. The case was a monstrous one, and one 
of the most embarrassing that has perhaps occurred in the history of the 
church. A priest was accusing another priest of having attempted on 
him infamous acts of sodomy. By the talk of imprudent priests, the 
case had become known to more than six hundred priests and some peo- 
ple out of the clergy. It was very humiliating for the church to ac- 
knowledge, b}^ a condemnation, that such a crime might have been 
committed. 

So, devices were resorted to, to palliate the thing. At first, the 
trial was posponed under the pretext that there was not enough evidence. 
Afterwards, the vicar-general, who was accused by the clergy^ and the 
people of protecting such a scandalous priest, as well as others, con- 
ceived the infernal project of destroying me, in order to save the honor 
of his friend and his own, and to crush down my terrible accusation. 
As I had had the imprudence to ask for another parish, the vicar-gen- 
eral seized that opportunity to appoint me to a parish teem'ing with diffi- 
culties, which, as it will be seen, he intended to increase, in order to 
lessen my reputation, to destro}^ my reliabilit}^ and to make fall aground 
the accusation I had made against his friend Aubelle. 

The name of that parish was Bourberain. The male teacher of Pra- 
nois had been a teacher in that parish. He knew and told me all about 
it. The village was divided into two strong factions on account of two 
nuns who had charge of the school of the girls, and had not a vShadow 
of piety and of religious decenc}^ 

Those nuns had for them the ma^'or, the justice of the peace and 
all the riffraff of the population. As they had some knowledge of med- 
icine, and attended to the sick, giving to them medicines gratuitous!}', 
the}^ had, among the poorer class, a kind of popularity. The}- had 
against them the old pastor of the village, seconded b}- the best and 
most religious element of the parish, and all the priests of the canton, 
especially the good and honorable priest of Fontaine-Francaise. Dur- 
ing several 3^ears, the nuns had been in a frightful struggle with the old 
pastor of the village. Finally that priest had succeeded in obtaining 
their removal. But the other faction had been no less successful in re- 
calling them. A terrible war ensued between them and the pastor, 
until the latter died, it was said, from grief and sorrow. The nuns were 
reputed to have danced on his grave. The parish had been left six 
months without a priest, and the passions were yet in all their efferves- 
cence, when the vicar-general had the kindness to appoint me to it. 

I refused — I persistently refused. I went to the bishop, cr3'ing and 
begging him not to send me there. All my efforts were in vain; I was 
obliged to obey. 

Though with repugnance, I went to see the place. I was intro- 
duced to the mayor and to the sisters. My candid air, a kind of gener- 
ous appearance, pleased them immediately. 



DEPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IX EUROPE. 4 1 

Perhaps they judged that the^^ could easil}' turn me to their wicked 
designs. The authorities of the village were convoked, and it was re- 
solved that six farmers should go, at the expense of the village, with 
six chariots, to transfer m}- furniture from Prenois to Bourberain. I ac- 
cepted the proposition. I was glad that m3^ new parishioners should 
come to Prenois and see how I was respected and loved. When they 
came, indeed, all m}' parishioners came in turn to offer me the homage 
of their respect and affection. The married men came, their wives 
came, the 3'oung men came, the j^oung girls came, the young children 
came; and, when the moment of m}' departure arrived, all my parishion- 
ers ranged themselves into two lines on each side of the road, bidding 
me good-bye with tears in their eyes, and uttering words of this kind: 
" What a good priest we lose." 

At the same time, the three bells of the church began to ring, as 
a testimonj' of honor, and continued ringing, until the people were un- 
able to see me anj^ more. Such emotion was in my heart that I could 
not hold my tears nor say a word for many hours. Such was the con- 
dition in which I left the good people of Prenois. 

Alas! the good seed I had sown was not to bring much fruit. A 
3'oung fool, named Dellers^ was appointed there and destro^^ed all the 
good I had done. He had been the assistant of the pastor of Saint 
Jean-de-Losne. A 3'oung girl, who was familiar with the priests, was 
found to be in the famih' wa^'. The pastor accused the assistant and 
wanted him suspended. The assistant accused the pastor and sued him 
for slander before the tribunal of Beaune. I do not remember which. of 
the two beat the other; but it did not do any good to my successor. 
He lost the confidence of his parish. The old priest Ormancey, whom I 
had withdrawn from his bad habits, began to drink again, and my be- 
loved parish was again scandalized by the old priest as well as by the 
3'Oung one. 

M}^ entrance in my new parish was a true ovation. Xever a bishop 
was received with more honor. 

If that parish had not been spoiled b}' the presence of the two 
nuns; if I had not had, besides, a powerful enemj^ in the house of the 
bishop, my task would have been eas}- and m}' success certain. 

The priests were S3-mpathetic to me. The}^ hated and despised the 
vicar-general. The}' believed every particular of my story concerning 
Aubelle. ]My parishioners were also all well disposed toward me, 
though each faction tried to pull me to its side. I put myself on my 
guard. I was deaf and dumb about their difficulties. In mj^ sermons, 
I entreated m}' parishioners to live in harmony' and peace, and to help 
me to sanctify the souls, to edify the 3'outh and to do the most good 
posssible. My sermons and conduct pleased. I was very popular. 

But the nuns could not allow me to be esteemed and loved b}- both 
factions. The}' wanted to get me in their trouble, and they spared noth- 
ing to attain their end. 

Seeing their rage, and being persuaded that, in spite of my efforts, 
the}' would get me into trouble; having, besides, the certitude that, if I 
should get into trouble, I would have neither help nor relief from the 
vicar-general, I wrote to the bishop that I did not want to remain in 



42 DEPRAVITY OF THE CATIIOI.IC PRIESTHOOD IX EUROPE. 

that parish, which I had so persistently refused. I asked and asked 
again ni}^ removal. All favor being refused to me, and being anno3'ed 
at the publicit}^ given to ni}' case with the priest Aubelle, and also at 
the hostilit}' of the vicar-general, I asked of the bishop an exeat to pass 
to another diocese. The bishop had some affection for me, because he 
knew that I was a good priest. He refused me that exeat for several 
months. Finall}^, on the 27th of December, 1867, His Grace sent me 
the following letter, the original of which I have still in my piossession: 

"Reverend Dear Sir: {Monsieur U cjire.) 

" Since you persist in 3'our demand, I address 3^ou, without delay, 
" the exeat which is necessary to 3^ou. I give it to you for an3' diocese, 
" not knowing in w^hat diocese you intend to fix 3^our residence. I re- 
*' peat it, reverend sir, it is a true grief to me to see you take that de- 
" termination, and I like to think that ^-ou will not put 3^our project to 
"execution, or that, after having tried to settle somewhere else, 3'ou 
" will come back to 3^our old bishop, the true father of 3-our soul and of 
' ' 3^our"priesthood. It is for me a dut3^ and a consolation to attest to 
' ' those of m}^ reverend colleagues from whom 3- ou will ask to be admit- 
' * ted in their clerg3^, that never 3^our faith nor morals gave the least 
"room to the slightest suspicion, that 3^ou are bound by no censure 
" nor irregularity, and that we are and always shall be disposed to re- 
" ceive 3^ou, when you will be willing -to come back to us. I close, in 
" pra3dng God to deter 3^ou from 3^our project, or at least, if He allows you 
" to accomplish it, to make 3^ou find, wherever 3'ou will go, a bishop who 
"will take in 3'ou the same paternal interest which I will keep for 3-ou, 
" and of which I renew here to 3'ou the sincere assurance in Christ our 
' ' Lord. 

f Fraxcis, Bishop of Dijon." 

I had hardh^ received that letter, when the difficulties which I 
had dreaded broke out like a clap of thunder. Though having m3^ exeat 
to leave the diocese, I could not leave in the middle of difficulties, and 
I resolved to conquer or perish. 

It was customar3" to regulate the accounts of the church on the 
first of Januar3^ As the nuns were taking care of the linen of the 
church, and were paid for it, they presented to the treasurer a bill", 
which, though the parish had been six months without a priest, was 
twice as high as the bill of the preceding 3'ear. The treasurer refused 
to pa}^ this demand, and all the trustees, m3\self included, approved his 
action; which was also approved b^^ all surrounding priests. 

Immediate^, the guns and powder of the sisters made an explosion. 
The}^ ran through the village, accusing us of treating them as a couple 
of thieves. They wrote to their superior, requesting him to compel us to 
make reparation. The trustees, confident that the3' were right, did not 
judge proper to accede to their demand. It was a declaration of war. 
Henceforth, I was no more the pastor of the two factions of the parish, 
but of one onl3^ During eight months, I had to endure the attacks of 
those two furies hidden under the veils of nuns. To give all the details 
of their diabolical opposition Avould not interest the public. I shall only 
say that, at the end of the clavSsical year, I asked and obtained their 
removal. 



DEPRAVITY OF THK CATHOLIC PRIKSTHOOD IN :^UROPK. 43 

But this was not the end of my trouble. The vicar-general, who 
wanted to disgrace me, had a secret understanding with the superior of 
the convent that he should not send us an}^ nuns for a long while. 

During six months, ni}^ parish remained without sisters. The lit- 
tle girls had no school and had nothing else to do but to play in the 
streets. I was accused of being the cause of all that evil, and a terrible 
opposition was manifested against me. To tell all the insults of which 
I was the object during that period would fill a whole volume. God 
knows what I had to suffer! 

Seeing the ecclesiastical opposition, we went to the prefect of the 
Department and to the inspector of the Academy, representing to them 
our situation. The civil power sent to the convent instruction to pro- 
vide Bourberain with sisters, within the space of eight da3'S. In case 
of refusal, a la}^ teacher should be appointed. 

For fear of losing the position, the frightened convent sent us two 
new sisters. 

We received them with honor. The nuns came to me for confes- 
sion. As they had also some knowledge of -medicine, the old nuns 
were graduall}^ forgotten. The parish was reconstituted on the footing 
of peace. The enemies became friends, except a few stubborn fellows 
who kept against me a sound hatred and a perpetual design of revenge. 
I did not mind them, and mj' parish flourished during nearly three years. 

As the sodomitical Aubelle was still in ofl&ce, and as I had the con- 
viction that the vicar-general was a principal factor in my troubles, my 
contempt for him reached its climax. I wrote to the bishop that I 
wanted to correspond directh^- with His Lordship, and that I wanted to 
have nothing more to do with the vicar-general. 

Such was my situation when the council of the Vatican opened. 
My bishop, to my regret, was obliged to go to Rome, and the vicar-gen- 
eral remained at the head of the diocese. The blunders which he made 
in the exercise of his functions rendered him very unpopular among 
priests. On the other hand, the attitude of our bishop, at the council 
of the Vatican, rendered the administration perfecth^ odious. 

Our bishop was an old Galilean. He was one of the leaders of the 
antagonism against the dogma of the infallibility of the Pope. I do 
not say whether he was right or wrong. All I can say is that all the 
clergy of Dijon were in favor of the infallibilit}^ of the Pope, and we 
soon became ashamed of our bishop. 

From the report of eye-witnesses, it appeared that the conduct of 
the bishops in Rome was far from being edif34ng. Several serious 
priests, who went to Rome on that occasion, reported that it was scan- 
dalous. It was pride, rivalry, irritation, worse than has ever been seen 
in the quarrels of rival collegians. The pride of a priest is great. But 
the pride of a bishop is still greater. Who can imagine the importance 
of the fight of so many prides in conflict with each other ? The ques- 
tion was open before the world — Who should triumph ? 

Many bishops refused the infallibility of the Pope; some, as the 
bishops of France, to keep their old Galilean privileges and their in- 
dependance from the Hoty See; others, as the Austrian and German 
bishops, to abide by the independent principles of Josephism. They 



44 DEPRAVITY OF TIIK CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN EUROPE. 

preferred to be supreme teachers and rulers in their respective dioceses, 
rather than to be, like the remainder of the flock, the humble hearers of 
an infallible pope. It was noticed that the bishops the most opposed to 
the dogma of infallibility, were reputed to be, in their own dioceses, the 
most pitiless tyrants, and claimed for themselves a kind of infallibility. 
The French people went to the point. When they felt tired of so many 
useless discussions, they said in their good sense: "To satisfy the 
bishops and to keep peace with them, the pope would do well to grant 
to each of them a little bit of infallibility." 

During the discussion, each party had, as their organs, a certain 
number of newspapers. 

Mgr. Dupanloup, bishop of Orleans, in his newspaper, Le Fran- 
cais^ was pouring ridicule over the Infallibilists. The illustrious catholic 
DeMontalembert, who had rendered so many services to the catholic 
cause, was deploring, on his death-bed, the infallibilist tendencies of the 
clergy, and denounced, before giving his last breath, what he called 
"the i4pl of the Vatican." He was called, for that reason, an apostate 
— a new Lamennais. 

Father H3'acinth was used, as an instrument, by Mgr. Darbois, 
archbishop of Paris; Mgr. Dupanloup, bishop of Orleans; Cardinal 
Mathieu, archbishop of Besancon; Mgr. Landriot, archbishop of Reims; 
and Mgr. Maret, bishop in partibus of Surat. When father Hyacinth 
was condemned by Rome, those good bishops, to save their own skins, 
cowardly abandoned him; and it is one of the reasons wh}^ the reverend 
father renounced Catholicism and drowned his sorrows in the heart of a 
good wife. 

On the other hand, the infallibilists had for their organ the giant 
Louis Veuillot, chief-editor of the newspaper ''L' Universe That man, 
a forte poigne ^ as he was called, was blessed b}^ the Pope to throw mud 
and sarcasms to the face of the bishops, his opponents. Finally, he en- 
treated the pope not to allow the bishops to talk so much and to cut the 
discussion short. 

"What need have we," he exclaimed in one of his leading articles, 
' ' what need have we of hearing so long and so useless discussions ? The 
"climate of Italy is too hot. Here we are devoured by fleas. Here, 
"while I am writing, I contemplate an enormous flea jumping over my 
" desk. It is necessary to proclaim." The French newspapers treated 
very pleasantly the fleas of Louis Venillot. The}^ called them fleas a 
poigne, as their owner was called writer a poigne. 

But, in spite of the mockeries of the French newspapers and of the 
opposition of a certain number of bishops, and in consequence of the hot 
season and of the fleas biting Louis Veuillot and the bishops, the discus- 
sion was cut short and the dogma of infallibility was proclaimed. 

The bishops returned to their respective dioceses, the ones trium- 
phant for their victory; the others, covered with humiliation for their 
defeat. Several bishops were threatened by their priests not to be re- 
ceived in their dioceses. My own bishop was of this number. An un- 
derstanding was made among us not to receive him on his return. So, 
he was received, at the depot of Dijon, only by the vicar- general and a 
few satellites who enjoyed his favors. 



DEPRAVITY OF THK CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN EUROPE. 45 

Several priests, who had been in Rome during the council, reported 
that a certain number of bishops lead very irregular lives. It was ob- 
served that they were often absent from the council, and went to Naples 
and other cities of Italy, to enjoy themselves. Some showed an execra- 
ble temper. Others v^ere found belonging to secret societies. I heard 
all that; being said and repeated b}^ very serious priests, one of whom 
was a professor of theology in the great seminary of Dijon. 

The bishops, who had opposed the dogma of infallibility, had left 
Rome without making their submission, and a schism was dreaded. 
My own bishop had not submitted either. At that time, I had the 
opportunity of going to Paris and of seeing Louis Veuillot, the soldier 
and right arm of the pope. As I related to him the way I had been 
persecuted b}^ the administration on account of that miserable Aubelle, 
Louis Venillot, exasperated by my narration and by the attitude of my 
bishop in the council of Rome, exclaimed in my presence: "The rebels! 
the rebels ! the scandalous ! — they shall submit, or the excommunications 
of the church shall fall over their guilty heads." 

Did they submit or not ? I cannot say. For, a few months after, a 
voice more pow^erful than the voice of the Vatican was heard, which 
smothered the clamors of quarrelling bishops. The w^ar w^as soon to be 
declared between France and Prussia, and the noise of . the cannons 
called the attention of the world to a more serious object 

On my return from Paris, incensed by the expressions of Louis 
Venillot, I revealed to some priests and laymen my intention to bring 
ni}^ bishop and his vicar-general before an ecclesiastical tribunal, for 
maintaining in office, in spite of all evidence, an immoral and criminal 
priest whom I had denounced, and for persecuting me on that account. 

Was the bishop informed of my intention ? Did the vicar-general 
tr}^ to avert the danger by throwing me into new difficulties ? I have 
no positive proofs to affirm it. By the facts I shall relate, the public 
will judge what is real in the matter. 

As I have said, though I had the good will of ni}' parish, I had yet 
a few bitter enemies who longed for vengeance. One of them, a Mr. 
Lambert, who was my neighbor, either alone or in concert with the 
vicar- general, plaj^ed on me the following trick, in the month of Maj^, 
1870. 

That Mr. Lambert had a pane of glass broken in his garret window. 
Ever^^body could see, in the glass of that window, a little hole of the 
size of a pea. 

The next Sunda}^, after ni}^ evening service, the justice of the peace 
came to ni}^ house and told me that he wanted to search my premises. 
"Why?" I said in my surprise. "Because," said the judge, "j^ou are 
accused of having discharged a fire-arm at the garret wandow of your 
neighbor." " When did that occur ? " I inquired. " During the night," 
he said. I began to laugh. "Do not laugh," he continued, "the 
thing is serious; j^ou are accused of no more and no less than an attempt 
to murder y On hearing that ridiculous accusation, knowing no better, 
I called the justice of the peace ''a fooV and I ordered him out of my 
house. 

The justice of the peace summoned the judge of i istruction to come 
to my parish and make an investigation. The judge of instruction came, 



46 DEPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN EUROPE. 

indeed, and sent me, by the rural guard of the village, the following 
sumjHons to appear before him in the town hall : 

"We, judge of instruction in Dijon, order and prescribe Mr. Clerc, 
"pastor of the village of Bourberain, to appear before us to-day, at ten 
"o'clock in the morning, at the town hall of Bourberain, to be ques- 
"tioned on the fact oi attempt to murder^ which is imputed to him. 

The judge of instruction, lyOiSEAU." 

On reading that summons, I could not say anything else but that it 
was ridiculous. Consequently, the rural guard wrote my answer on the 
same summons, which I have still in my possession: "I, Nicolas Faiv- 
"ret, rural guard, residing in Bourberain, have notified the present sum- 
"mons to Mr. Clerc, at his residence, and, w^hen talking to Mr. Clerc, 
"he has answered me that the denunciation is 'simply ridiculous.'' 

The rural guard, Faivret." 

My an-sw^er was brought to the judge of instruction. The judge in- 
sisted, however, that I should go and appear before him. He sent the 
rural guard to me again with his formal orders. I did not want to go. 
The rural guard, with tears in his eyes, told me — "For your own good, 
go. The accusation is, indeed, ridiculous; it will fall to pieces. But do 
not resist the authority." 

I went. . About three hundred men had assembled in front of the 
town hall to see the farce. When I passed in the middle of them, I told 
them jestingly: " Farewell, my friends; I think I shall be beheaded; I 
have killed I^ambert;" and a thunder of voices vociferated the following 
expressions, which the judge could easily hear: ''Lo?ig life to our priest; 
down with the police.'' 

The judge of instruction asked of me if I did not keep fire-arms in 
my house. I answ^ered that I had a little carbine to shoot at target 
with my friends in my garden. He asked for my carbine. I sent for it 
and he took it with him to Dijon for examination. 

As he remained over one month without giving any decision or 
returning to ,me my weapon, I went to see him about it, and said to 
him: "Well, 3^our honor, I think that you have had time enough to 
make holes in garret windows and to find out if my gun is guilty. Is 
it not time to return it to me?" The judge answered me that he was 
not yet ready. I bowed and retired. 

As, at that time, I w^as high spirited, I went to consult a lawyer. 
At my request, the lawyer went to see the public officer, and, at his re- 
turn, made the following declaration: "The judge has been to see the 
"bishop and the vicar-general about 3^ou. It appears that your superi- 
"ors are against you; for, when the judge asked of them their opinion, 
"the bishop and the vicar-general replied, 'deliver us from that man! ' " 

On hearing those strange expressions, I became enraged and I ex- 
claimed in presence of my lawyer, "Ah! it is not the judge of instruc- 
tion, but the bishop who prosecutes me' Well, the bishop shall come 
to court with me! " 

Taking leave of my lawyer, I went to my hotel, and I addressed to 
the judge of instruction the following letter: 

' ' I know what is at the bottom of this infamous afiair. I know 
' ' that the hands of the bishop and of the vicar-general are in it. I 



DEPRAVITY OF THK CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN EUROPE. 47 

"know also the reason why. They want to destroy my honor in order 
"to save theirs. Since it is so, I denounce Mgr. Francis Victor Rivet, 
"bishop of Dijon, and Mr. Lebceuf, his vicar-general, as protectors of 
"" sodomites. '^ 

Fifteen days after, I was summoned to appear in court, in Dijon. 
I did not know for what kind of crime I was to be tried. I took with 
me about thirty of my parishioners to testify for me. My lawyer told 
me confidentially before the trial, "I caution you not to say a word in 
"court. There is no use. The three judges who are going to try you 
* ' are bigoted Catholics in the hands of the bishop. You will surely be 
' ' condemned. If you say a disrespectful word to the court, your con- 
" demnation will be more severe. There is evidently a plot against you. 
"But do not be afraid. We shall make an appeal to the imperial court, 
"composed mostly of liberal judges, and I am sure they will acquit 
"you." 

I went to court with my law3^er and witnesses. The judge of in- 
struction, probably through disgust, did not come. He sent in his place 
a young law student, twenty-two years old, who there made his maiden 
speech in my case. The charges were so absurd and so false that some 
of my witnesses could not help denying them loudly. Finally, an usher 
brought to the judges my letter, in which I accused the bishop and his 
vicar-general of being the "protectors of sodomites." 

One of the judges, acting as if he was reading that letter for the 
first time, said, with a frown, "Oh, that infamous letter! that infamous 
letter alone deserves a condemnation! " 

I was not allowed to say a word. My lawyer and witnesses were 
not allowed to speak. The three judges consulted each other. After 
they had murmured a few words, one of them turned to the public and 
majestically pronounced the following sentence : "Mr. Clerc is con- 
demned to two months of imprisonment." 

On hearing that verdict, my parishioners burst into tears and cursed 
loudly bishop and judges. "What has he done, that poor man, to be 
condemned to jail? What has he done? It is unjust; it is horrible; 
it is shameful! " such were their expressions. 

While my parishioners were crying and cursing, my lawyer took 
me by the arm, and we went together to file" an appeal to the imperial 
court. When this was done, without going to jail, and even without 
giving any bail, I rejoined my good parishioners, who could not recover 
from their astonishment, and we returned together to our village. 

The news of my condemnation spread like wild-fire over twenty 
leagues around. The monstrous cause of it was also circulated. Instead 
of passing for a criminal deserving jail, I gained the reputation of a mar- 
tyr and of a hero. The bishop was ridiculed, and I became the most 
popular priest in the diocese. 

Though condemned to two months in jail, I continued my functions 
during three months, preaching, saying mass, baptizing, marrying, hear- 
ing confessions, etc., in the middle of a population w^hich surrounded 
me with its esteem and love. 

The chief-priest of the canton, Mr. Dard, on seeing the blunder of 
the bishop and its terrible consequences, went to see him in secret, and, 



48 DEPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN EUROPE. 

on his return, paid me a visit for the following purpose: "I have seen 
the bishop about you," said to me the worth}^ priest; "I told him plainly 
that he had made a blunder, that he was universally blamed, while 3'ou 
were universally praised, and that, instead of making a criminal of 3'ou, 
he had made of 3'ou a hero. I told him, besides, 'Mr. Clerc has made 
an appeal to the imperial court and he will prove his case. What a 
scandal ! What a shame to the church! ' When I had said that to the 
the bishop, his face turned pale and he began to tremble. 'Is that so?' 
said his lordship. 'Yes, my lord, it is unfortunately so,' I replied. 
'And 3^ou must not allow that case to appear before the imperial 
court. You must make an appeal to the Empress Eugenie for the 
pardon of Mr. Clerc. In this way, the scandal ^vill be checked.' 
'Well,' said the bishop, 'tell Mr. Clerc to make an appeal for pardon to 
the empress, and I will sign and recommend his petition. Tell Mr. 
Clerc that I assure him of his pardon.' " "To ask my pardon !" I ex- 
claimed; "to ask ni}^ pardon from the Empress ! ! Never ! ! Onh^ cul- 
prits demand pardon. I am not a culprit. I have made an appeal 
to the imperial court. I trust in its justice. If I am guilt}-, I am 
walling to suffer for m^r crimes." 

The good priest, seeing me immovable, bade me good-b^x with the 
utmost kindness, but also with the utmost sadness. Soon after, the war 
broke out between France and Prussia, and nobody thought of my case 
an}- more. After the defeat of Napoleon III, and the establishment of 
the republic, as the great majorit}' of the people were incensed against 
priests, accusing them of being the cause of the misfortunes of France, 
many priests expected to have hard times and expressed their desire to 
be able to emigrate. 

Some said to me; "You should emigrate. The bishop, being afraid 
that 3-our case will appear in court, will be ver\- glad to obtain a free 
pass for 3-0U. Nobod}- thinks of 3-our case an}" more. The court has 
forgotten it. You will go awa3- unnoticed. I wish I was in 3-our place ; 
I would soon be in America." "That is ver3- well," I answered, "but 
when I come back to France, 3-ou will throw in my face that I have 
cheated the jail. I will not be so foolish as to do such a thing. I ex- 
pect to be acquitted and wnll do m3'' best to be acquitted. When I am, 
I shall be very glad to go to America, because 1 have no more respect 
for the bishop or for his administration." 

Tired of being so long under the weight of an infamous sentence, 
and being afraid that, on accoinit of the terrible condition of France, m3- 
case should be forgotten for a long time, I begged and begged again the 
imperial court to huny^ m3^ trial. Finalh-, m3' demand was granted. 

I pleaded, m3-self, m3^ case -before twent3- judges. I related m3^ 
troubles and their cause. I maintained m3^ accusation against the sod- 
omite priest Aubelle, against the bishop and his vicar-general and I was 
acquitted. 

The bishop and the vicar-general were ridiculed. The vicar-gen- 
eral, especialh^, became the laughing stock of all the priests of the dio- 
cese, and fell so low in their opinion, that he was obliged to resign. 
The justice of the peace, w-ho had been his instrument in m\- troubles, 
w^as removed to an inferior position, in a distant place. 



DEPRAVITY OF THK CATHOI.IC PRIKSTHOOD IN KUROPK. 49 

Naturally, I was triumpliant. I continued during two weeks to 
officiate in my parish. I was the idol of my parishioners. In spite of 
the misfortunes of France, I desired to stay with them and sacri- 
fice my life for them. But, in consequence of the scandal which had 
occurred, the bishop sent me word that he did not want me any 
more in his diocese; but that, if I wanted to go to America, he would 
give me the best testimonials and the best letters of recommendation to 
any bishop I would designate. I gave my consent. 

Then, two letters of recommendation were given to me, one to the 
Fathers of Mercy of New York, who are French, and one of whom was 
my countryman; (I have not that letter, as the Fathers of Mercy kept 
it to themselves) — the other, to the bishop who would be willing to re- 
ceive me. (This letter is authentic. It is written in Latin and pro- 
vided with the special seal of the bishop. I have it still in my posses- 
sion.) Here is its correct translation: 

"Francis Victor Rivet — By the Merc}^ of God and the Grace 
"of the Holy See, Bishop of Dijon, assisting to the Pontifical throne, etc. 

"To our beloved in Christ, Peter Clerc, Priest of our Diocese, saluta- 
" tion and benediction in the Lord. 

' ' As, for a long time, you have expressed to us your desire of leav- 
"ing this our diocese to enter another one, we acquiesce in your desire 
" and petition. Therefore, exempting you, by these present letters, from 
"our jurisdiction, we submit you to the jurisdiction and power of the 111. 
" and R.R. D. D., who will receive you, so that, in the future, you may 
" entirely depend on him. 

" We, moreover, certify that, until now, you have fulfilled, in our 
" diocese, the sacred ministry with zeal arid piety ^ and that you have been, 
"at all times, conspicuous by your faith and good 7?iorals, and that you have 
'-'h^^VL entirely ir reprehensible^ and that you are impeded by no censure 
' * nor irregularity. 

f Francis, Bishop of Dijon. 

Provided with those letters, I came to America in company with 
Mgr. Amat, late bishop of Los Angeles, who was coming back from the 
council of the Vatican. I revealed to him my case. The good bishop 
consoled me. As he was in favor of the infallibility of the pope, he 
blamed the course followed by my bishop in the council. He told me that 
there was a large field for my zeal in America. He promised me his 
friendship and help. In company with him, I landed in New York, on 
the second of November, 1870. 



V. 

Depravity of the Catholic Priesthood in America. 



In describing the depravity of the CathoHc clergy in Europe, I have 
given the names of persons and places, because the cases are public. 
Many are even recorded in the annals of the courts. 

What I have to say about the clergy of America is not quite so 
public. I am an eye-witness to their depravities. The pamphlet which 
I wrote nine 3^ears ago and which a great many people have read^ gives 
the names of all persons and places. 

I have been told that American laws do not allow au}^ man to be so 
personal and that he can be prosecuted on many grounds. I do not 
know why. Catholics took the liberty of slandering me and of accusing 
me of crimes I have never committed. Why should I not be at liberty 
to reveal crimes which they have reall}- committed? What I have 
to say is true. I take my oath before God and all mankind that I intend 
to say only what really exists — what I have heard and seen. I go so far 
as this: If I say an3^thing that I have not heard and seen, ma}^ God afflict 
me with the greatest curses so long as I live, and may He plunge me 
for all eternity into the bottom of hell ! ! 

Many of the facts I am to relate are known and can be ascertained 
by a great many persons. The difficult}^ is to find out if those persons 
will have the courage to testify publicl}- or, if the}^ will not be prev- 
ented, by Catholic influences and religious fears, from revealing what 
they know to be true. 

In such circumstances, I am advised to be prudent and to keep my- 
self away from the grasp of the law. In all things that are public or 
of minor importance, I will speak without fear. In more serious affairs, 
I will indicate the men b}^ letters of the alphabet. If I am contradicted 
or challenged, I wall give to the public the names, places and all 
the particulars. 

My intention, in coming to America, was to solicit admission, as a 
professor, in a Catholic college recently founded in New York by the 
Fathers of Mercy, under the name of "St. Louis College." A priest of 
my diocese, by the name of Leneuf, was emplo3^ed there as a teacher and, 
as I had a letter of recommendation to him from ni}^ bishop, I thought I 
could easity get admittance in that college. 

On reaching New York, m}^ first step was to call on Father Lenelif, 
at St. lyouis College. Father Ronay, the principal of the college, an- 
swered my call and told me, "Father Leneuf is no longer here; he is at 
the house of the Fathers of Merc3^ Go there; 3^ou will find him." 

The truth is that, though Father Rona3^ and Father Leneuf were 
both Fathers of Merc3', the3^ had quarrelled; and Father Rona3', being the 
principal of the college, had expelled Father Leneuf on account of his 
bad temper. 



DEPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN AMERICA. 51 

I went to the house of the Fathers of Mercy. My countrj-man, 
Father Leneuf, received me with a brother!}^ kiss. I drew with pride 
from my pocket my letters of recommendation. After having read them, 
the father told me smilingh': "Your letters are indeed magnificent. 
But I have recei^-ed others which are not quite so good. Those letters 
represent you as a dangerous man, and we are recommended not to re- 
ceive you. Never mind," — said Father Leneuf, who had himself had 
trouble with the vicar-general of Dijon and despised him as much as I 
did myself, — "I will receive you, and I will have you admitted in the 
order." He introduced me to the fathers, who received me kindl}^, and I 
took my residence in their house. 

After I had told them my stor^', they mocked the folly of the 
bishop of Dijon and of his vicar-general, the stupidity of their adminis- 
tration, their fallibilist attitude in the council of the Vatican, etc. My 
accusation against the sodomitical priest Aubelle w^as believed groimded 
and approved. The}^ treated with derision my denunciation as a mur- 
derer, and the broken glass of the garret- window. The news of the re- 
signation of the vicar-general, w^hich reached them immediateh^, con- 
firmed them in their belief that I was in the right. 

Rev. Father Lafont, superior of the Fathers of Mercy, presented my 
testimonials to Archbishop McClosk}^ and obtained from His Grace 
in my behalf all the necessary powers to officiate in the French church 
of New York. 

Being happy to be received, I began immediately to attend to my 
priestly duties — saying mass, preaching, hearing confessions, etc. 

During all the time I was among the Fathers of Mercy, I found 
them religious, moral, sober, disinterested. I really think that religious 
orders are virtuous, and that Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans and even 
nuns, who live in communities and have made the three vows of poverty, 
chastit}^ and obedience, are far superior in merit to the secular clergy, 
because the latter have too much mone}^ too much liberty and too many 
occasions of committing sin. When I speak of the secular clerg\', I do 
not mean to sa}' that all secular priests are bad. There are good bishops. 
Such w^ere Archbishop McClosk}^ and Archbishop Alemany. There 
are also good priests. It is possible to be a good priest, if the ways of 
St. Paul are followed. But, unfortunately, the great majority of the 
secular priests do not follow them; and, consequently, they become bad. 

If the regular clerg}^ are not so addicted to sensuality and bodily 
sins as the secular clergy-, the}^ are highh' contaminated by the sins of 
the mind. 

Once, the illustrious Bossuet, while preaching to a congregation of 
nuns, addressed them this sweet compliment: "M}^ dear sisters, you 
are pure, 3^ou are pure like angels ! — but 3'ou are proud, you are proud 
like devils!" 

This may be addressed to an}- congregation of monks, whose inter- 
nal and external contentions are a m^'Ster}^ to nobody. 

When I was in Dijon, my bishop fought againt the introduction of 
Jesuits and Dominicans in his diocese. The}- came in spite of him and 
the}' never agreed. 

Who did not hear about the long and hard struggle which existed 
between the Sulpitians and the bishop of Montreal ? 



52 DKPRAVITY OF THE CATHOI.IC PRlKSTnOOD IN AMKRICA. 

When I was in New York, there was a perpetual rivalry among 
• the religious orders. The Fathers of Mercy did not like the Jesuits and 
reciprocally. The Capuchins did not like the Redemptorists and recip- 
rocally. The Dominicans did not like the Paulists and reciprocally. 
And all those orders were hated by secular priests, because they w^ere 
making collections, on the sly, in their respective parishes and taking 
their money away from them. 

Since I cariie to San Francisco, I have been told that the Jesuits are 
not on very good terms with the archbishop and the secular clergy. 
They are considered as the soldiers of the Pope and depending on him 
more than on the bishop. They are considered as cunning spies who 
have great talent in raising monc}^ and in constituting themselves above 
the level of the secular priesthood. They are accused of duplicity and 
deceit ^\.o such an extent that the w^ord Jesuit is thrown, as an insult, in 
the face of every deceitful man. I must say that, in my opinion, the 
Jesuits have not stolen their reputation. They richly deserve it. 

I have not lived among them, and do not know whether or not 
the monks have little fights among themselves; but I have lived with 
the Fathers of Mercy of New York, and here are the struggles among 
them that have met my observation: 

A young priest, who belonged the diocese of Santa Fe, and who 
had left his diocese for some unknown motive, had received emploj^ment 
in the house of the fathers. It came to my notice that he was in con- 
flict with Father Leneuf. I saw them often quarrelling in the dining- 
room. Once, the young priest became so excited, that, swearing like a 
porter, he took a revolver in his hand and threatened to shoot Father 
Leneuf; but the latter got the best of him and had him expelled from 
the house. 

Though being delivered of a powerful enemy, Father Leneuf had 
another no less formidable to fight in the very society of the fathers. 
That enemy w^as Father Ronay, who had expelled him from his college. 

The two monks were anathematizing each other, even before the 
lay people. Father Ronay accused Father Leneuf of bad temper, 
insubordination, stubborness, and his want of domination. He w^as 
repeating here and there that Mr. Leneuf had been interdicted in Dijon, 
expelled from the convent of the Sisters of Gevrey-Chambertain, and re- 
ceived in the order of Mercy, only through mercy. Father Leneuf, 
favored by Father Lafont, who had a personal grudge against Father 
Ronay, accused him of being a sensual man, without faith and piety. 
He reproached him for perpetually kissing the little boj^s, for holding 
them indecently on his person, for having in his college neither cru- 
cifix nor holy water, for giving all his attention to good meals, and for 
charging fabulous prices. His conclusion was this: "The college of 
Father Ronay is no longer the institution of the Fathers of Mercy; it is 
a private enterprise, and he is no more than a 7?ier chant of soupy He 
went so far as to write against him, to their superior in Paris, a denun- 
ciation of ten pages, which he read to me, and in w^hich he demanded 
his expulsion from the order. In the meantime, I made acquaint- 
ance with Father Ronay. That priest appeared to me to be a real gen- 
tleman, an amiable and good-hearted priest. His manners pleased me, 



dkpravity of the: cathoIvIC prie:sthood in am:e:rica. 53 

and I found that he was right against Father Leneuf. I suppose that 
my manners did not displease him either, for he proposed that I should 
go and teach in his college. He offered me a good salary, with room 
and board. I was really tempted. I had only one objection: I was 
afraid of losing the friendship of Father I^eneuf, if I should accept the 
place. Resembling a vicious dog who despises a fat bone, but does not 
allow an}^ other dog to touch it, he was despising the college of Father 
Ronay, but did not want any other priest employed in it as a teacher. 

I asked the advice of several priests and lay people. Kvery^one 
told me, "Go to Father Ronay." So, I resolved to go. 

When I made my determination known, all the fathers became 
greatly excited. "It is a disgrace to our order," they exclaimed. 
"We establish a house of the Fathers of Mercy, and Father Ronay 
takes secular priests! He sends away our members, withdraws from us 
our novices and shows to the people the spectacle of our discord! It is 
a shame!" 

Each father came in his turn to deter me from ni}^ determination. 
The holy Father Aubry, in particular, said to me, "For the good of your 
soul, remain in a religious order. The secular priests of America have 
too much money and too much liberty. Many lose their souls." 

Father Leneuf employed all the resources of his wicked passions 
to dissuade me. 

I asked again the advice of priests and of la}^ people. The unani- 
mous voice was again: "Go to Father Ronay; do not be afraid." 

Finally, after a conversation in which F'ather Leneuf showed me 
all his despicable temper, I told him, "My dear sir, with such a temper 
as you show me, I do not think I can get along with you in this house. 
I think I shall agree better with Father Ronay. So, I will go to Father 
Ronay." 

He threatened me with the most terrible threats — that he would 
have me expelled from the order and prevent me from obtaining any 
position in America. I let him talk and swear, and I went quietly to 
live with P'ather Ronay. 

From that time Father Leneuf became my most mortal enemy. 
He never addressed me a word. He avoided my presence, and spoke 
unfavorably of me in different places. I did not pay attention to him, 
and I tried to fulfill my new duties in the best way I could. 

A priest of New York, whom I will designate under the name of 
"Father A.," having lost his assistant, I was deputed to sing mass and 
vespers in his church every Sunday. For ni}^ services, I received, each 
time, the sum of five dollars. 

At the approach of the Lenten season. Father Ronay, who was a 
remarkable preacher, engaged to go to a parish of New Orleans to 
preach the Lenten station. During his absence, I was to fulfill the 
functions of principal of the college. 

Great scandal among the Fathers of Mercy ! To put a secular priest 
at the head of one of their colleges was for them an outrage. All pos- 
sible means were employed to induce Father Ronay to put Father Len- 
euf at the head of his college, at least during his absence. Unable to 
resist the demands made upon him, he placed Father Laneuf at the 
head of his college. 



54 DEjPRAVII'Y OF' 'rHK CA'THOI.IC PRIESTHOOD IN AMERICA. 

Being afraid of the bad temper and of the ideas of revenge of my 
countryman, I said to Father Ronay: "What a hard time I am going 
to hav^e with Father Leneuf ! Can you not bring about a reconcihation 
between us?" He promised to do so. He invited him to take dinner 
with me and all the teachers. Though I was placed, at table, on the 
right side of Father Leneuf, he did not address me a word. The good 
Father of Mercy did not show me any mercy. 

Father Ronay was much embarrassed. He advised me to go dur- 
ing his absence, to live and take my meals in the house of Father A. 
in whose church I was singing mass every Sunday. I told him that I 
should not like to live with that priest, whose manners displeased me. 
Father Ronay did not insist. 

Meanwhile I fell sick and was about eight days in my bed. As 
Father Ronay had good feelings for me, he came frequently to see me in 
my room; and, when he departed to New Orleans, he came to bid me 
farewell, kissing me repeatedly and shedding abundant tears. I was 
also crying. 

During my sickness. Father Leneuf did not pay me a single visit. 
When I was restored to health, I went to teach again, but I found out 
that Father Leneuf had appointed another teacher in my place. The 
good father told me: "Father A. w^ants to have you for his assistant; go 
to his house." For feir I should refuse to go, while I was absent from 
the college, he packed my trunks, hired a carriage at his own expense, 
and had all my property transferred to the house of Father A. 

The measure looked violent and was universally condemned by the 
clergy and the people of New York. It gave me the sympathy of many 
priests. 

For obvious reasons, I w^as not very much pleased with my new 
position. Father A. was a very queer, proud, domineering and brutal 
man. He was the type of a perfect tyrant. He did not like to receive 
regular asssistants from the archbishop. He w^anted priests depending 
only on himself and w^hom he could treat as mere domestics. In fact, 
no priest regularly belonging to the diocese w^anted to go to his ser\dce. 
He was generally despised and even dreaded. 

Before I went to him, he had consecutively had in his house five 
priests, coming fro .11 different parts of the world. All of them had been 
the object of his ill-treatments and had left him in the middle of quarrels 
and curses. The last one, though being reputed to be a pious man, had 
disappeared without anybod}^ knowing what had become of him. His 
casssocks, his money, his letters, had remained in the house of the pas- 
tor; but the priest was seen no longer. Father A. seemed to be indif- 
ferent about his fate. As I asked him once what had become of that 
priest, he answered me quietl}^: "He was crazy; I suppose he has 
drowned himself." I made no further inquiry. I was his successor — 
his unfortunate successor. 

I was in the house of the priest, like a poor servant, receiving now 
and then humiliations, rebukes and ill-treatments. Everj^thing dis- 
agreeable in the sacred ministry was for me. M}^ duties w^ere to attend 
to the sick, especially the poor. Every case of tj^phoid fever, small-pox, 
cholera-morbus and other contagious diseases w^as for me. To do some- 



DEPRAVITY OF THK CATHOLIC PRIKSTHOOD IN AMERICA. 55 

thing agreeable in the church, to preach, to marrv^, to baptize, to receive 
the money' was his own reserv^ation. For the confessions, he had his 
chosen people. For the bulk of the poor Irish people he had nothing 
but disdain, and I was obliged to hear alone and to carr^^ the whole bur- 
den of their sins. Sometimes, some old Irish women would make their 
confessions in the Irish language. I told them: "I cannot understand 
you; go to the old man." But the old man returned them to me with- 
out pity. When I told him that I could understand better those talking 
good English, he answered: "There is no necessity for you to un- 
derstand what is told you. Let them talk. Do not say much. Pro- 
nounce your 'Ego te absolvo' That's all." 

How man}' confessions I did not understand ! How mau}^ times my 
mind was upset by the multitude, especially on Saturdays, being obliged 
to hear from two to three hundred people whom I could hardly under- 
stand, while the old pastor was drinking, smoking or enjojdng himself 
in his house! How many times I said: "What kind of a job am I doing 
here? Is this business serious? Are not the sacraments profaned? 
Would not those poor people do as well to confess to the walls or to the 
pews of the church ? ' ' 

I had come to America on the second of November, without know- 
ing a word of English. I heard the confessions during the Lenten sea- 
son, which occured in the months of February and March. Assuredly, 
m}^ hearing was not drilled enough to the English sounds, and it was 
utterly impossible for me to understand confessions in English. Yet, I 
was obliged to hear them. 

As Father A. was disdained by the Irish priests of the city, I was 
not allowed to go and see them. Yet I ventured to go in secret and see 
some of them. Those priests told me that Father A. was a bad man, 
that he had done harm to all his assistants, and that he would also in- 
jure me. They advised me to leave his house. I wrote to several Amer- 
ican bishops, soliciting admission in their dioceses. They all answered 
me that they had no vacant positions for French priests. Consequently, 
I resolved to keep my situation, and mx miserable lot was to contem- 
plate, during two years, a series of disorders, the principal of which I 
will now relate: 

I was not long in acquiring the certainty that Father A. was a bad 
priest, in every respect. I realized by degrees (i) that he had neither 
faith nor piety; (2) that he was a simoniac and a thief; (3) that he was 
a drunkard; (4) that he was immoral. 

I. — He had neither faith nor piety. He had no regard for the disci- 
pline of the church. He had no respect for the Eucharist, which he 
was carrying in his- pocket to the sick while talking and smoking, leav- 
ing it sometimes on the table of the dining-room or on the mantel-piece 
or among rags in the drawers of the vestrj^ After two months of resi- 
dence at his house, I wanted to renew the Host of the Ostensorium. I 
swallowed it. I found it so musty and so bitter, that I was afraid of be- 
ing poisoned. As I asked him wh}^ he did not renew his altar-bread, 
he answered me, ''I do not ??iind those details.'' I surprised him once tak- 
ing a cup of coffee with a cracker before his mass. Once, as the good 
Irish women brought to him their scapulars to be blessed, and as he 



56 DEPRAVITY OF THE CATIIOTJC PRIEPTHOOD IN AMERICA. 

was in a hiirn- to go out, he said, in my presence: " IVit/i their rags, 
they botJier niey I never saw him saj^ a pra3'er in his house. In fact, 
he had no breviar^^ at home; his breviary was at church. Like the 
Pharisees, he was praying in pubhc to be seen by men, while transact- 
ing business; and man}- times I saw him reciting, in one month, prayers 
which should have been said in another month, or holding his breviary 
upside down. 

2. — He 7vas a simoniac and a thief. It is an article of the Catholic 
doctrine that a priest ought not to realize any profit or gain on the mas- 
ses ordered b}^ the public. In America, the general custom is that for 
a low mass is paid one dollar, and for a high mass, five. If somebody 
has the generosity to give more, the full amount belongs to the priest 
who sa^^s the mass. If a priest gives to a colleague a mass he cannot 
say, and retains a part of the amount given, he is reputed to be a simo- 
niac and is liable to the censures of the church. 

But I have the names and addresses of Catholics who ordered mas- 
ses of Father A. and paid him two dollars for each mass. I said those 
masses in his place, but I never received more than one dollar. I sang 
for him a great mau}^ liigh masses for each of which he was receiving 
five dollars, and I never received more than one dollar and a half for 
each of them. 

Once, an old Irish lady, to whom I had rendered sendee, trusted 
five dollars to Father A., with the request to give them to me. Three 
months after, I met her and she asked me if I had received her money. 
I answered that I knew nothing about it. Being a little excited, I said 
to the priest, ' ' Wh^^ do 3^ou keep m^^ mone^' for ^^ourself ? What kind 
of conscience have 3'OU?" He answered that he had forgotten it. He 
was sa^'ing the same thing to all his creditors. 

Once, he took up in his church, a collection for his own countrs^ 
which he represented as being in distress. The collection amounted to 
the sum of three hundred dollars. A 3'oung girl, who came a little after 
from his own A'illage, used before me and o her persons the following 
language: "Father A. is ver}^ generous to his famih^ and friends. He 
has sent lately three hundred dollars to be distributed among the 
members of his famih^, to ni}' own mother, to the mother of his former 
cook and to his old teacher." Did his congregation intend to give 
its mone3^ for the benefit of the famih* and friends of the priest ? If the 
congregation did not intend to do so, was it not a theft? 

Father A. was reputed to be worth about fifty thousand dollars. 
He told me once that he did not need the support of his parish and that 
he could live within his income. When he came from Europe, he was 
poor as Job. This is a proof that, during his sacred ministr}^ in America, 
he was careful to gain, if not the souls of Christians, at least their money. 

3. — He was a drimkard. Once, a female teacher of his school told 
me that she found him drunk in the vestr}- of the church, and, that, from 
that time, she had lost all confidence in him. 

Man}' times, when he was coming home at night, I saw him stag- 
gering in the 3'ard, being hardly able to talk and to stand on his feet. 

Sometimes, after his orgies, he was so drunk that, when people 
called on him for business, it was impossible to awake him. 



DEPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN AMERICA. 57 

One Saturday evening, as the churcli was filled with penitents anx- 
ious to make their confessions for the Sunda}^ communion, he remained 
in his room until nine o'clock at night. As the penitents were impa- 
tient, I sent several times for him. At last, he got up. According to 
the testimon}^ of his cook and four boys who were in his house, when 
he came to the dining-room, he fell full length on the floor. He came, 
as well as he could, to the vestr}^ of the church, and put himself in a pos- 
ition to hear the confessions. But he fell asleep again. A good Irish- 
man, who went to him for confession, after having w^aited twenty min- 
utes to hear a word from him, left him and came to me for confession. 
"I come from Father A.," he said, "I have been twenty minutes at his 
feet, and he did not address me a word. I think he is asleep or drunk." 
After having heard that, for fear of scandal, I w^ent to Father A., who 
w^as still asleep. I aw^oke him and told him: "For pity's sake, go 
home and do not give anj" scandal." He went, and I was obliged to 
hear alone the confessions of the crowd until after midnight. 

Father A. was not alone in his sprees. He had some companions. 
Some priests of his type were coming from time to time to his house 
and, after copious libations, were reclining on sofas or armchairs or talk- 
ing nonsense to the servant girl of the house. 

Once, he came very late at night in company with an Irish priest, 
who was the pastor of a large parish in the neighborhood. I designate 
him under the name of Father B. The two pastors remained in the 
dining-room until three o'clock in the morning. The3^ made such a 
noise as to awake all the inmates. Whether they were drinking or not 
I cannot sa}', because I was in my bed. At seven o'clock, Father A. 
said his mass, as customary. But Father B. remained in bed until 1 1 
o'clock and said no mass. I do not think either that he said his brev- 
iary. He was awakened for the dinner, which took place at 12 o'clock. 
I shared their good dinner and did honor, like themselves, to the claret, 
Rhine wine and champagne. At 4 o'clock. Father B. said: "It is time 
for me to go home. I must take the train." He told me: "Father 
Clerc, come w^ith me to the depot, and help me to carry my valise." I 
gave my consent. When we were at the corner of a certain street, he 
told me: "Oh! here dwells an Irish widow to whom I must pa}^ a visit. 
Let us go and see her." We went. Mrs. C. received us cordially. A 
hot punch was offered, after which Father B. asked for another, and 
then for another, until he became drunk and finally asked of Mrs. C. the 
favor of giving her a little kiss. I told him that he was not respectable 
and he called me a humbug. I w^as so indignant that I wanted to leave 
the house, when Mrs. C. tried to appease me and invited me to take tea 
with him. It w^as nine o'clock. I accepted, not without repugnance. 

During tea, the priest, who was out of his mind, began again to in- 
sult me. This time, I became mad, and I told him: "Dirty drunkard, 
if 3'ou do not respect 3'ourself, respect at least your company." In my 
disgust, I took m}^ hat and went away. The next da}^, early in the morn- 
ing, he sent for me for the purpose of making an apolog3^ I refused to 
go. In the afternoon, after he had left Mrs. C, I w^ent to see her and 
asked her: ' 'At what o'clock did Father B. go to bed last night?"-" About 
one o'clock," she answered. "Did you see him say his breviary?" I asked. 



58 DEPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIEPTHOOD IN AMERICA. 

**He did not say aii}- pra3'er," she replied, "he was too drunk." "That is 
awful," said I; 'such are the dignitaries of the church. That priest deser- 
ves to be suspended." "Keep silent," said she, "If you talk, you can only 
hurt yourself." So, I remained silent. 

Once, a bishop, w^hom I will designate under the name of Mgr. O., 
and who belonged to a religious order which had a monastery in New 
York, came to pass a few months in that monaster3\ Mgr. O. had been 
bishop in Italy. He was related to the royal famil}- of Naples and had 
been expelled from his diocese, when \^ictor Emmanuel annexed the 
kingdom of Naples to the kingdom of Ital5\ The Holy Father had ap- 
pointed him bishop of some diocese in Asia. But as Mgr. O. was not 
pleased in Eastern countries, he asked permission to come to America, 
and was appointed bishop of a town in the United States. There, he 
did not agree with his priests. He complained that his priests were of 
the worst kind, and often ex-claimed: "I wish I was dead!" 

The bishop was living in the monaster}- of New York, when Father 
A. invited him for dinner at his house. For Father A. it was a great 
honor to dine a bishop ; and, as he missed no opportunity' of making 
known what could glorify him, all the echoes of the neighborhood re- 
sounded with the name of Mgr. O. 

While Father A. was preparing the tables and filling the bottles, 
he sent me to the monastery with a carriage and two beautiful horses. 
I had the order to transport his lordship through the principal parts of 
the cit}^ and the Central Park, and to make him enjo}- as much as I could. 
I filled m3' pockets with the best Havana cigars, and then took the 
bishop with me, according to order. The bishop was ver}' easy tv^ talk 
with. He talked French. We talked French. We smoked, we laughed, 
we sang. Never before had I been so honored and so delighted. After 
our little trip, we came for the dinner, which, natural!}^, was worthy of a 
bishop. After dinner, every one had his little song. I had mine. The 
bishop had his. I remarked nothing improper. 

Soon, the carriage and the two beautiful hors-^s re-appeared at the 
door. The bishop. Father A. and the friars went in. I do not know 
w^here the}- went. But, the^^ came back at 9 o'clock p. m. As I did 
not know that the bishop had come back, I went to the dining. room, 
and I found all of them drinking again and in excellent mood. What 
particularly struck m^- attention was the face of the bishop, which was 
as red as a popp}-; his e3^es, which shone like two stars; and his legs, 
which were staggering. The poor bishop was drunk. 

"What a pity!" I said to m5^self; "What a pity! The first time 
I see a bishop in his private life, such a spectacle is offered to me!" 

I went to ni}- room without sa34ng a word. I revealed the fact to 
Mrs. C. and to a Dominican lather to whom I was going for confession. 

A little after, Mgr. O. resigned his bishopric and went to board 
wtih the Archbishop of Quebec, Canada. For the past two or three years, 
he has been sent by the Pope to settle the difficulties of a Catholic coun- 
tr3^ He must be a clear-headed pacifier. Though I do not give the name 
of that bishop, I think that all those who read the newspapers can guess 
it. 

Father A. had a special friend in a priest who had something to do 
with the administration of the diocese and was initiated into its secrets. 



DEJPRAVITY OF the: CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD iN AMKRIdA. 59 

That priest, whom I will designate tinder the name of Father D., often 
came at night to chat with him. As Father A. had always ready for 
him a bottle of claret and champagne, that priest was a constant visitor. 

It is written that "truth is in the wine," and that drunkards can- 
not keep a secret. As I was sometimes invited to take a glass with them, 
I had the good luck to penetrate into the secrets of the diocese, and es- 
pecially^ into the following one : 

A certain bishop, whom I shall designate as Mgr. E., was a scan- 
dalous drunkard. His drunkenness was a public fact. All the digni- 
taries and officers of the State knew it. 

The bishops of America had tried to have him interdicted b^^ the 
Pope, and had sent to Rome a denunciation against him. The Pope 
had considered the matter for a long time. As Mgr. E. was a talented 
man, His Holiness was afraid of the consequences of the interdict. 

The question was then raised to divide his diocese in two, and to 
create a new bishop for the new diocese. Mgr. E. gave his consent, on 
the condition that his vicar-general, who w^as an ex-protestant dean con- 
vert, should be created bishop of the new diocese. The bishops of the 
province did not like the ex-protestant dean, and found him incapable. 
The}' offered to the approbation of the Pope a good Irish priest, who 
was the secretary- of a certain bishop. 

The poor hoh' father, Pio IX, being so far from America, w^as afraid 
of making a fallible step. He considered the matter very long. At 
last, in his wisdom and infallibility, he took the following determina- 
tion: 

To induce Mgr. E. not to drink an}- more, he created the ex-prot- 
estant dean bishop of the new diocese; and, to watch Mgr. E. and pre- 
vent him from drinking, he gave him as a coadjutor the secretary of 
the bishop alread}' mentioned. The new bishop I will designate under 
the name of Mgr. F., and the coadjutor, under the name of Mgr. G. 

This arrangement seemed, at first, to be a test of the infallibility of 
the pope. But the events demonstrated that the pope was not infallible. 
For, Mgr. E. continued to drink more than ever, and mau}^ priests said 
that his drunkenness had degenerated into craziness. 

Mgr. E. was far from being satisfied with the arrangement , of the 
Hoh'" Father. He did not want a coadjutor, and he thought that, if he 
was able alone to empty six bottles of claret a da}', he was able alone to 
govern his diocese. So, in the beginning, Mgr. E. positively refused 
the services of his coadjutor, and afterwards he grossl}- abused him. 
Once, I saw that poor coadjutor crj-ing bitterly in the house of a priest, 
and deploring his position. He told me with the accents of the deepest 
sorrow : ' ' Father Clerc, you complain a great deal of being the assistant 
of Father A. I would be glad to exchange my position for 3'ours. I 
would prefer to be the assistant priest of Father A., than to be the co- 
adjutor of Mgr. E." 

4. — Father A. was a?i humoral priest. A man who leads such a dis- 
orderly life, must naturall}- be immoral. A few facts will prove that he 
w^as so. 

Before I was in his house, there was a great deal of talk about his 
relations with a female teacher of his school, whom I wdll designate 



6o DKPRAVITY OF THK CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN AMERICA. 

under the name of Miss J. It was said b}^ the neighbors, that the fe- 
male cook of the pastor had become jealous of her, had spat on her face, 
called her a prostitute, and forbidden her to come any more to the par- 
sonage. The niece of the pastor, who was living with him, had used 
the same language and had told her that she 7vas ruining her uncle. In 
fact, while I was there, the niece and the teacher were still mortal ene- 
mies. That female teacher having been publicly called, by another 
teacher, the mistress of Father A., 3. law-suit followed, in which the pastor 
went to plead for his favorite. The trial was interesting. The popula- 
tion laughed at the pastor, and the Z>ai/y News of New York gave a very 
pleasant account of the affair. 

During my sojourn in the house of Father A., Miss J. came very 
seldom to the parsonage; but she met him somewhere else. As I was 
called at night to visit sick persons, and obliged to go to church for the 
viatic and the holy oils, I surprised them twice in the vestry of the 
church, once at eleven o'clock, and once after midnight. Many people 
had seen them going in and out of the vestry at late hours at night, and 
were making fun of it. Why, indeed, was that girl so late in the vestry- 
room of the church, and, particularly, at the same time as the pastor ? 

The young female cook of the pastor was to be married. In pre- 
vision of that event, the pastor had ordered another young one from his 
own village, in Europe. 

After long expectation, the new cook came. She was a young lady 
about eighteen years old, good looking, with rosy cheeks, lively eyes, 
lively conversation, so that she boasted she would please every priest, 
and be loved by every one of them. 

In the beginning, when nothing existed between her and the pas- 
tor, she spoke very unkindly of him. She told me once, that in her 
village, he was reputed to be very fond of ladies, and that he had been 
obliged to come to America for that very reason. Once, being angry 
with him, because he slapped her on the face, she said: "The old pig 
comes every night to see me, when I am in my bed. He awakes me 
every night." 

At that time, not feeling well, my physician advised a change 
of air and' a trip to Canada. I was four weeks absent. 

As I was disgusted with the prostitution house of Father A., I 
called, during my trip, on four bishops, the bishops of Toronto, Mon- 
treal, Quebec and Providence, soliciting the favor of being admitted in 
their dioceses. The only favorable answer I received was from the 
bishop of Quebec, and yet I was to wait for some time. 

When I came back from my trip, I found quite a change in the 
house of Father A. The cook, formerly so indifferent to the pastor, 
was very attentive to him. That girl, formerly so fresh and so good 
looking, had become thin and tired in her face. On account of my late 
sickness, the pastor seemed to have great concern for my health; but, 
in realit}^, he could not bear me in the house, when he was there him- 
self. So, oftentimes, he would say to me: "It is good for your health 
to go out and to take the fresh air." Being astonished that he had 
such an interest in my health, I tried one day to find out what might be 
his motive. 



DEjPRAVITY OF THK CATHOLIC PRIK.S'THOOD IN AMERICA. 6 1 

On November i3tli, 1872, after I had said 1113^ mass, the pastor sent 
me, as customary, to take the fresh air. It was nine o'clock, a. m. I 
told him: "Well Father, this time I will go very far. I will not come 
back before noon." 

But, about about half an hour later, I came back without noise and 
without being seen. I looked in the kitchen — no cook. I went with 
precaution up stairs — complete silence. I knocked at the door of the 
pastor — no answer. 

I w^ent to my room, which was contiguous to that of the pastor, 
and there I waited in silence for over one hour, my door being open. 
No noise was made. The}^ probabh' expected that I would go out 
again, and that they could separate without being seen. At last, they 
lost patience. Thinking that, probably, my door was shut, the pastor 
opened his door, and the girl rushed like lightning down the steps. 

I w^ent immediatel}' down stairs and asked her why she was run- 
ning so fast. At first, she did not answer; but, afterwards, turning to 
me a face rain-bow color, she said: " I was late for my dinner, I was in 
a hurry." 

Afterwards, I w^ent up stairs to the pastor's room under the pretext 
of borrowing a book from him. I told him: "I knocked at your door; 
why did 3'ou not answer me?" He said: "I w^as regulating some 
kitchen accounts with the cook." "All right," said I, and the pastor, 
with a rain-bow colored face, handed the book in question to me. 

Though I played the innocent, they did not doubt from that time 
that I suspected them. I was no more sent to take the fresh air. But 
they had another resource. They knew^ that vclj sleep was very sound, 
and they imagined they could securely have their meetings from four to 
five in the morning. So, on Januar^^ 4th, 1873, at four o'clock in the 
morning, when, against m}^ custom, I was perfectly awake, I heard 
the steps of the stairs creaking ver}^ slightly as under the pressure of 
very light steps. M}^ curiosity was naturally aroused. I got up. I 
opened my door without noise. I looked. The door of the room of the 
pastor w^as wide open and the gas was burning. I shut my door 
again, but not entirely, and I waited, in the dark, until I should see the 
person whose steps I had heard. At five o'clock, the pastor, according 
to his custom, came out of his room and w^ent to the bath-room to make 
his toilet. Of course, he was not afraid of making a noise. It was 
quite the contrar^^ Protected by that noise, the girl, whom I saw with 
my two eyes, came quietly out of his room and went down stairs. 

I said nothing. But I revealed the fact the next da}^ to a father 
Dominican, and to the widow, Mrs. C. I told them that I intended to 
denounce to the archbishop that scandalous priest. But they advised 
me to keep still, because the archbishop was already aware of many 
facts, but did not dare to touch Father A. , on account of the gang of 
priests he belonged to, and of the scandal which would follow. So I 
kept silent. In some way or another, Father A. and his cook were 
a^vare that I knew of their commerce. Consequently, they could not 
bear me any more. M3' meals became irregular and of inferior quality. 
When I complained to the girl of being neglected, she became haughty 
and insulting. At last she told me : "I am able to kick you out of the 



62 DEPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN AMERICA. 

house, and I will kick you." To such strange language I answered: 
"/f this the la?iguage of a servant girl? Are you the mistress of the Jiousel 
Yes, I thifik that you are a mistress.'" 

That word mistress produced a wonderful effect. The girl repeated 
it to her master and to all the neighbors. She accused me of having 
called her "a prostitute and the mistress of the pa.stor." 

I did not den}'- it. I repeated the word to an Irish pastor of the 
neighborhood, who laughed at it and said that I did not say too much. 
That priest, who knew perfectly w^ell the ways of Father A., told me: 
"Now it is all over with Father A. and you. Go quickly to the arch- 
bishop; because Father A., to protect himself, will go and plot something 
against 3'ou." 

I went immediately to the archbishop. His Grace had already re- 
ceived the visit of Father A., and, in consequence of that visit, he 
addressed me the kind words which follow: 

' ' Father Clerc, I am very sorry. But 3'our pastor does not want 
you any more. I cannot help it. You know that you do not belong to 
my diocese. You were only for the use of Father A. As I have no 
French parish in my diocese to give to you, you must ask of another 
bishop to receive you in his diocese. All that I can do is to give to you 
my recommendation." 

I answered the archbishop: " Reverend Sir, I am thankful for 3'our 
kindness. You have been, indeed, very good to me. I am willing to 
go, under 3^our recommendation, to any diocese; but before going, I 
should be glad to prove to you, hy a + b, that Father A. is a bad priest, 
a man without religion and piety, a simoniac and thief, a drunkard, an 
immoral man of the worst kind, a real monster." 

The archbishop, who probably knew everything about it, answ^ered 
that he had no time to hear me. I prayed him respectfully to speak of 
me to his colleagues. He promised me to do so. Then I took leave of 
him. 

A good Irish priest, who loved me as much as he despised my pas- 
tor, offered me the hospitality of his house. As he was sickly, I helped 
him in his functions. There I remained until the death of Rev. Stars, 
vicar-general of New York. 

Mgr. F., the ex-protestant dean, who had been recently created 
bishop of a new diocese, having come to the funeral, I was called to the 
archbishop and presented by him to the new bishop, who accepted me 
immediately for his diocese. 

Ten days after, I received my appointment to a Canadian parish, in 
a large cit)^, in the north of the State of New York. 

When I went to take posession of -aiy parish, I found my predeces- 
sor, whom I will designate under the name of Father K., unwilling to 
leave the place. He had recently bought in the town, a nice little 
house for the sum of two thousand dollars, and was comfortabl}^ estab- 
lished in it, in company with two j^oung so-called nieces. He owaied, 
besides, in the cit}', a grocery store which he had put into the hands of 
his nephew, and in which he was selling the hams, cabbages and pota- 
toes which w^ere given to him, as a present, by ignorant Irishmen. As 
he was always begging and singing miser}^ among them, he made a big 



DEPRAVITY OF THK CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN EUROPE. 63 

profit out of their credulity, and his parish was for him a httle bonanza, 
while the new parish, offered to him by the bishop, was situated on a 
mountain, in the vicinity of I^ake Champlain, and did not present so 
many resources. 

At my first visit to Father K., he confessed to me that he had not 
given his resignation, that the bishop had no right to remove him 
without his consent, and that he would sue him before an ecclesiastical 
tribunal. He then began to curse him, calling him a stupid man, a 
fool, a protestant dean, a man of money, entirely unworthy of being a 
bishop. In his language, the bishop had neither intelligence or educa- 
tion. He was despised by the other bishops and by the priests. There 
were hundreds of priests who deserv^ed a bishopric better than he. He 
was the creature of the drunken bishop, Mgr. E. , and had no influence 
at all. 

At the same time, he accused the Irish priest of the place. He 
called him a hypocrite, a traitor, who, while pretending to be his friend, 
had plotted his removal, because he was receiving masses from the 
Irish. 

As Father K. did not appear any more in church, even on Sundays, 
a great many people were afraid that he would turn a Protestant. 

Though having no more power in the place, he continued to make 
christenings and to marry in private residences, being paid for it. He 
was collecting all the pew rents and what was due to the church, and 
appropriating it to himself. He was spreading against me the most 
mischievous insinuations: "I was a Frenchman, not a Canadian. I 
would not understand Canadian manners. Canadians should have a 
Canadian priest. All priests coming from France were coming from 
bad motives," etc. 

Many Canadians, being influenced by these rumors, were unwilling 
to receive me. On my first appearance in the church, I was obliged to 
correct those rumors. The manner I officiated and preached captured 
the population, so that, after the office, the people, who had never heard 
a good sermon, exclaimed. "Thank God! We have a priest who 
knows how to read! The other could not read." 

They then began to mock his stupidit}^, his mercantile dispositions, 
his covetousness and even his morals. Father K. had been already 
four months on my shoulders, without having rendered any account of 
his administration. He had kept in his hands the registers of the church 
under the pretext that he wanted to collect his own dues. Finally the 
parish, and especially the trustees, began to distrust him. We sum- 
moned him to render his accounts. We had a meeting in which it was 
found out that Father K. had appropriated to himself a sum of thirty- 
two dollars, which was not due to him. He acknowledged the fact and 
signed to us a bill for that amount. But, afterwards, he refused to pay it. 

After the settlement of his accounts, seeing that there was no more 
hope for him in that place, he resolved, though reluctantly, to go to his 
poor parish, on the banks of Lake Champlain. But, in going away, he 
swore that he would come again and take posessionof his parish. He 
left, against me, a good lieutenant, and that lieutenant was his good 
nephew, the grocer, who spared nothing to put sticks in my wheels and 



64 DEPRAVITY OF TIIK CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN AMERICA. 

tried to set my parishioners against me. I have all the details of his 
machinations; but I think they would not interest the public. 

In the month of July, in order to make acquaintance with the 
priests of the diocese, and to repair the losses of my soul, I went to the 
city of my bishop, for what is called a pastoral retreat. 

Does the public know what a pastoral retreat is ? In the mind of 
the Catholic church, it is a kind of revival for the sanctification of 
priests. They are reputed to go there to reflect on their priestly obliga- 
tions, to give up themselves, during five or six days, to mortification 
and prayer, to acknowledge and confess their sins, and to take resolu- 
tions to live, in the future, as good priests. It is what priests say to 
their people, and what is generally believed. But this is the reality: 

When priests go to the cit}- of the bishop for a retreat, they are di- 
rected to the convent of the sisters. Those good nuns, whose tender 
hearts were never defiled, and Avho are full of delicate attentions for the 
ministers of the Lord, lie there in wait for them. Though the allure- 
ment is great, the priests do not hurry to confine themselves. They go 
to the best hotels; the}^ ask for private rooms and for the best liquors and 
cigars. Before confessing their sins, they must commit a few more. 
Before entering the cloister, the}^ must fill their satchels. To compel 
the Holy Spirit to come to their souls, they must fill their pockets and 
satchels with bottles of whiske3\ When the provisions are made, they 
go to the house of repentance. 

At first, the}^ go to kneel before the bishop and to kiss his ring. 
Afterwards, a visit of politeness is rendered to the dear sisters. Those 
poor creatures, who have abandoned the joys of the world to consecrate 
themselves to the Lord and to the service of priests, are justly gratified 
with some compliments and some holy smiles. Then, as it is repeat- 
ed during the whole retreat, a good repast, prepared b}^ their delicate 
hands, is graciously tendered by them. A recreation follows, where 
priests are skillfulh" choosing their particular friends and avoiding their 
enemies. For, it must be known that many priests are enemies to each 
other, and keep their mutual hatred even during the da3'S of reconcilia- 
tion. Three or four times a da3% the bell of the convent calls them to 
the chapel. A father Jesuit, unknown to the priests and ver^^ well paid 
for, reads, in a manuscript written by himself, a few reflections on the 
sacrifices of the ancient law and on the duties of priests. A recreation 
follows, during which, priests either take a walk in the yard, or go to 
their satchels to drink and smoke. The conversation of all does not run 
on the sermon of the Jesuit, but on their respective parishes, on their 
incomes, on the difficulties of their fellow-priests, on the probable va- 
cancies, and on the possibilit}- of obtaining this or that co\'eted parish. 
Such is the occupation of the da}-. 

At nine o'clock, at night, the bell calls the priests to the Dormitory. 
The word dormitory^ (from the Latin dormtre^ to sleep), means a place 
for rest and sleep. It is so generall}^, but it is not so during a pastoral 
retreat. During the five da3^s I have been there, I have been unable to 
shut m3' e3^es. It 'was a noise, a dissipation, a disorder which I have 
never witnessed, even among the bo3'S of the college. The priests talk, 
smoke, drink and pla3^ all the night. They open and shut the doors. 



DEPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN EUROPE. 65 

They run from room to room. I suppose that they visit only the broth- 
ers, and that the innocent sisters are left to their solitude. They come 
back; they throw water on the beds of those who try to sleep; they over- 
throw beds; they laugh and loudly manifest their satisfaction and enjoy- 
ment. 

Once, I was trying to sleep, w^hen a big priest, whom I will desig- 
nate under the name of Father P., w^eighing about three hundred pounds, 
came, undressed, to my bed, and placed his form upon my face. I ex- 
claimed: "You are mistaken, this is not your bed." He went away. 
After a while, he came back and renewed the same ceremony, trying to 
introduce his mass in my bed. I cried loudly: "Are you crazy ? Once 
more, this is not your bed." The priests were roaring. At last, the 
good priest took another direction and tried to find his bed. But, 
through mistake, he introduced himself into the bed of another priest, 
who threw him so heavily on the floor, that the noise awoke the whole 
house, even the sisters and the bishop. The priest was beastly drunk. 
He had lost his bed; he was in search of it, but could not find it. 

The next day, all the priests were laughing at me, and asking me 
if I had w^ell considered the face of Father P. It was the theme of the 
conversation during the remainder of the retreat, and, I think, the only 
souvenir which remained from it. 

At the end of the retreat, when the time came for the priests to go 
to confession, the bishop appointed five of the most respectable to hear 
the confession of others. Among them was Father P., w^ho had given 
so good an example on the previous night. On hearing his name, every- 
body began to laugh. The bishop asked the reason of that laughter. 
When he knew it, he withdrew the name of Father P. from the list of 
confessors. 

In the Catholic doctrine, the confession must be followed b}^ the 
satisfaction, and every priest must satisfy like the remainder of the 
flock. To fulfill this part of the sacrament, we were all called by turn 
to see the bishop, w^ho did not ask of us if the retreat had benefited our 
souls, but, taking a register, said to each of us: 

"P'or your board of five days, you owe twenty dollars. 

"You owe so much for your cathedraticum. (That is to say, for 
the support of the bishop.) 

"You owe so much for dispensations. 

"You must give something for the Pope. 

" You must give something for the provincial seminar}^ 

"You must give something to buy a house for me. 

' * I must give two hundred dollars to the Father Jesuit for his 
trouble, and repay our dear sisters who have accommodated us with 
their house, and taken so good care of us." 

The priests, amazed, looked for their pocket-books. A part of the , 
contents had evaporated in smoke and whiskey. The railroads had 
taken another part. There was just enough remaining to pay the bill 
of fare of the bishop and to get them home. The priests found the pill 
a little bitter and the satisfaction hard. Many said: "It is the last re- 
treat I come to. What an extortion ! Twenty dollars for five days of 
board ! and two hundred dollars for that silly Jesuit who has bothered 



66 DEPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IX AMERICA. 

US with his stupidities! It is too much! It is too much! " and the good 
priests returned to their homes, not edified at all, and with the firm reso- 
lution of ?iot behaving better. 

Such is an ecclesiastical retreat, as demonstrated to me, in the year 
of grace 1873. 

A retreat of that kind was not to produce good fruits, and we shall 
see its results. 

An Irish priest of the diocese, whom I will designate under the 
name of Father M., had a mixed parish, composed mainh' of Irish and 
French- Canadians. As his parishioners seemed to forget their religious 
duties, he resolved to give to them a kind of revival. He invited two 
Irish priests to attend to the Irish population, and he invited me to at- 
tend to the French-Canadians. I answered his call. In the house of 
God, everything was all right. Beautiful sermons were made, both in 
French and English, and people seemed to be anxious to return to their 
God. But, in the house of the priest, the spectacle was vers^ different. 
To tell the truth, I must sa}- that the two Irish priests, invited with me, 
did not do anything out of the wa}-. But, for Father M., O God! what 
a degradation! During the five da^'S I was there, he was in a complete 
state of drunkenness. He had at his service a good-looking young girl, 
about twent}^ ^^ears old, who, during the revival, had given the hospit- 
alit}", in the house of the pastor, to a nice 3'oung Irish lady belonging to 
another village. During the day, when the pastor could stand on his 
feet, he was running after the girls, kissing them, throwing them on the 
floor and struggling there with them. After that foolish play, he was 
throwing himself on his bed, and sa^'ing to his servant girl: "Give me 
a good hot punch to make me sweat and sleep," The hot punch w^as 
coming and was followed by other hot punches, and, while the good pas- 
tor was hot in perspiration, his tender-hearted 3'oung ser^-ant girl was 
wiping his face and kissing him ! 

On the last da}' of the revival, which was Friday, the two Irish 
priests, who had been invited to preach and to hear the confessions, 
were suddenh^ called back to their respective parishes, to attend to d}-- 
ing persons. The English sermon was to be preached b}' one of them. 
This was the principal ceremony of the revival. All the parishioners 
and many Protestants were to be present. As the pastor was under the 
influence of liquor, and as there was nobod}- to preach the ainiounced 
English sermon. Father M. asked of me, as a favor, to deliver the solemn 
speech. I said I was willing to speak in French. He told me that the 
sermon was to be in English. I answered that I was not prepared, and 
that m}^ pronunciation was too bad to preach before such a crowd, and 
especialh' before Protestants. That poor priest was nearh^ cr\4ng. He 
did not know what to do. Finally, I told him: "Well, I will venture 
to preach for 3'ou. As I have two hours to prepare mj'self, I think I can 
find something to sa3^" 

At the appointed time, I went to church. There were about fifteen 
hundred persons present. I preached over one hour. After ni}- sermon, 
over fifty persons came to compliment me, sa^'ing that "they had never 
heard so beautiful a sermon." The pastor himself, who was at the back 
pews of the church, came to compliment me, saying: "Clerc, you have 



DEPKAVI'TY OF run CAfHOtlC PRllJSi^HOOr) IN AMieiRlCA. 6/ 

astonished me; I would never have expected such things from you. 
You have been wonderful. I thank you for the service you have ren- 
dered to me." 

We went to his house. We had a good supper and a few choice 
drinks. As I felt somewhat tired, after a little talk, I asked permission 
to retire to my room, to recite my office and go to bed. 

Everybody prepared himself also to go to bed. The priest had his 
room contiguous to mine and the two girls were sleeping in an adjoin- 
ing room. 

When I was in my bed, Father M. opened my door, dressed in his 
night-dress, and told me: "Clerc, you are a good boy; you have rendered 
me a great service; I want to reward you. There are two girls in that 
room. There is one for me and one for you. Come." I looked at him. 
"Do you joke, sir?" said I. "No, sir; I am in earnest. Come, and fol- 
low me." He went. Through curiosity, I jumped out of my bed and 
looked at him. The fellow was in earnest. He opened the door of the 
room of the girls, and ascended their bed. He took hold of his servant- 
girl, and called me loudly to take hold of the other. The other girl 
was, I think, a good girl. She screamed. I called the priest a fool and 
I shut my door. I saw nothing more. 

This story I have related to man}^, even to Irish Catholics. Some 
refused to believe it. But I certify before God that it is true in every par- 
ticular. May God strike me dead and damn me, if it is. not true. 

The next day being Saturday, I said to Father M. that I wanted to 
go home. As I was about twelve miles from the railroad, he said to me: 
"Wait — I must go to my mission, which is situated on the railroad. I 
will take you there with my horse and buggy. You will not need to 
walk. When j^ou are in my mission, you can take the train and go 
home." 

I waited. But he had never finished gossipping and drinking. We 
started at one o'clock p. m. Before starting, he took with him a large 
bottle full of whiskey. From time to time, we stopped to water the horse. 
While the horse was drinking, Father M. was watering himself with his 
large bottle. He stopped at the house of several of his Irish farmers, 
talking nonsense and drinking. When we reached his mission, it was 
too late for me to take the cars. The last train had passed. I was in 
great trouble. "Do not be troubled, " said to me Father M. , ' 'we shall sleep 
in my mission, and to-morrow, before mass, I will fetch you with my 
horse to your parish." 

He then brought me to the house of a good Irish farmer, to take tea 
and pass the night While the tea was being prepared. Father M., com- 
plaining of a violent headache^ threw himself on a bed and began to snore, 
and slept so soundly that it was impossible to awaken him for tea. I 
took my tea alone. 

When it was time for me to go to bed, I called for a room. I was 
answered that I had to sleep with Father M., because there was no 
other room available in the house. I was profoundly humiliated to be 
obliged to sleep with a drunken priest. But, as I could not do other- 
wise, I went to bed all dressed. 

Father M. was not alone in bed. He had a companion, and that 
companion was his inseparable bottle of whiskey, which he was opening 



68 DKPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN AMERICA. 

every time he awoke. After midnight, I told him: "You cannot drink 
an}^ more; you must be fasting to sa}^ your mass to-morrow." He an- 
swered: "Nonsense, a drink does not break the fast." Then, being 
very kind hearted, he tendered me his bottle, saying: " Clerc, take a 
good drink, and let the fast alone." He continued his drinking during 
the whole night. I do not know how he was able to hear confessions 
and say his mass in the morning. Early in the morning, his good 
farmer fetched me, with his horse and buggy, to my parish, and I 
arrived in time to say my mass. 

When I had returned to my home, I saw the Irish priest of the 
town, who was the counsellor of the bishop. I related to him the facts 
and the danger of a great scandal. A few months after. Father M. was 
obliged to leave his parish and to go to Ireland. 

This scandal is not the only one which took place during my so- 
journ in that locality. A great manj^ acts of drunkenness and immoral- 
ity were committed by priests, all over the State. 

I. — Drunkenness. God is witness that most of the priests I have 
associated with in the State of New York were, if not real drunkards, at 
least drinking very heavily. The Irish priest, who was in the same 
place as myself, though being the counsellor of the bishop, was reputed 
to drink so hard that, once, w^hen he announced that he would preach a 
sermon on total abstinence, everybody laughed, saying: " Before preach- 
ing on total abstinence, he would do well to take the pledge himself." 

Three priests of the neighborhood were especially noted as inveter- 
ate drunkards. (I have their names and the names of their parishes.) 

One of them was found drunk at the altar, while sa3'ing his mass. 
The next Sunday, his parishioners locked his church and did not allow 
him to enter it. 

Another one was seen by me and b}^ hundreds of persons, at the 
railroad depot, in a complete state of drunkenness. He was leaning 
against a pillar of the depot, because he could hardly stand on his feet. 
Everybody was looking at him with amazement. Though I knew him, 
I did not dare to go and speak to him. I was close to a policeman who 
was watching him. That policeman told me: " If that man was not a 
priest, I w^ould have him arrested on the spot." When the train came, 
the policeman helped him to ascend the car. Since that time, I have 
never seen that priest. 

2. — Immorality. I will quote a few examples as decently as possi- 
ble. The reader must remember that my aim is not to teach immor- 
ality, but only to show what kind of angels Catholic priests are, and if 
they are not a real curse to societ}^ 

A priest of New York, named Baretta, after having given scandal, 
had run away with a girl, and w^as leading a married life in Phila- 
delphia. 

A priest was married in the city of Klmira and was dealing there 
in grains. 

Rev. Fitzgerald, pastor of Lowville, and brother of the Catholic 
bishop of Little Rock, had turned Protestant and taken a wife. 

The priest of Clayton had been suspended by the bishop for illicit 
relations with a girl, and was reputed to lead, with her, a married life in 
Canada. 



DEjPRAVITY OF 'THE: CAI'HOI.IC PRIE:STH00D IN AMERICA. 69 

The priest of Carthage was accused of illicit relations with his fe- 
male organist. The accusations became so strong, that he was obliged 
to leave the place and pass to the diocese of Albany. 

The priest of Rosiere, Father R., was so constantly accused of the 
same sin, that he asked from the bishop an exeat to pass to the diocese 
of Buffalo. As that exeat did not come fast enough, he came every day 
to me and to the Irish priest of the city, sa3dng in a feverish and exci- 
ted tone: "Pray, ask my dismissals from the bishop. I can remain 
no longer in that cursed parish. If I remain, I shall die or become 
crazy." 

The cause of his excitement was discovered, a few weeks after, by 
his illustrious successor. 

That successor was a young priest from Savoy, Europe. He pre- 
tended to know medicine, law, Latin, Greek, German, English, French, 
Italian, Spanish, Chinese and two idioms of the Indian language. He 
boasted to have been in Palestine, in Rome, in all countries of Europe 
and America. He pretended, also, to have been general chaplain of the 
French army during the Franco-German war, and, at the end of the 
war, to have been sent by the French government to certain missions, 
as an interpreter, in Mexico, Brazil, Peru, etc. He wore on his breast, 
a gold chain valued at four hundred dollars, and a watch valued at 
seven hundred dollars, and was dressed like a prince. Though he was 
only thirty-two years of age, he spoke like a master, and priests and lay- 
men were obliged to hear him in silence. The name of that priest was 
Ferret. 

He had been for a while the guest of the bishop, and pretended to 
be especially in his favor. He had made to His Lordship several pres- 
ents of honey, claret and brandy, and, in return, as a special mark of 
his esteem, His Lordship had presented him with a little dog. Perret 
showed the dog of the bishop everywhere, and presented it, especially 
to his parishioners, as a proof of his intimacy wnth the prelate, and of 
the extraordinary power he had received to bark at them like a dog, 
and even to bite them on their legs. 

From the beginning, he told them their facts from the pulpit. In 
his mouth, they were so many rascals. Since the minister of God said 
so, those poor people believed themselves to be guilty, and some of 
them, especially women and girls, went to him to confess their sins. 

After their confessions, Perret came to me triumphant. ' ' My par- 
ish," said he, "is converted. They have all come to me for confession. 
Oh! the good people! the poor people! They have been lost by rascal- 
ly priests. That infamous priest R. is a true devil. I am going im- 
mediately to the bishop to have him suspended in Buffalo. He deserves 
State prison. I have here in my pocket, against him, the most awful 
declarations. He has outraged a woman in the church, before the bles- 
sed sacrament exposed. He has violated several young ladies, and 
especially a young girl, twelve 5^ears old. There is a warrant against 
him, and he will be arrested. He has left Rosiere eight hundred dol- 
lars in debt. He is a true rascal." 

I asked Mr. Perret: "How do you know all those details?" He 
answered: "I heard their confessions, and, after their confessions, they 



70 DKPRAVITY OF THE: CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN AMKRICA. 

made to me their written declarations. I have all that in my pocket." 
I told him: "Since 3'ou know all those details by confession, you must 
not speak of them to any one, except to the bishop, if you have obtain- 
ed the permission from 3'our penitents." 

Mr. Perret did not pay much attention to my words. That hero 
in morality and zeal went to tell his tale to the bishop, and came back 
with the idea that he was a great man. He went to his parish, and, 
before tr^-ing to regulate his spiritual affairs, he began to regulate the 
temporal. 

Kver}^ Sunda}', in his church, his sermons, delivered with an imper- 
turbable authority which sometimes degenerated into insolence, were 
ending with these words: "Mone}^, mone}^, I want money. I want one 
thousand dollars from Rosiere, five hundred from the Cape, ten dollars 
for a marriage, three dollars for a christening, five dollars for a high 
mass and one dollar for a low mass, no more, no less. I shall have a 
horse and a buggy for m^^ own use, but not for 3'ours. If j^ou want me 
for 3'our sick-calls, 3'ou shall come to me wnth your own buggies and 
horses; otherwise, I will not go. You are obliged to supply ni}" house 
with a rich furniture. But, as all of you are jackasses, I shall buy it 
m3'self according to my taste. It is in your interest to get the best 
goods. Do not be troubled. As I have more intelligence than you, I 
will buy, I will present you the bills and 3'ou shall pa3'. If 3'oU resist, 
I go awa3', and, as I have the full power of the bishop, I will leave 3^ou 
twent3^ 3^ears without a priest. You are a stupid and wricked popula- 
tion. You have dangerous tongues. Yes, m3^ jackasses." 

The people of Rosiere can certif3^ that this was the general tone and 
meaning of his sermons. 

Once, in my home, that grand preacher was boasting of his insolen- 
ces. I ventured to tell him : "You are greatl3' mistaken. If3^ou con- 
tinue, you will not remain two months in Rosiere." He answered 
bravely: "You are a jackass. You are not styled to live in America. 
M3^self, I am a Yankee, I am an American citizen. Look at the corner 
of m3^ e3^e and give us a rest." That expression ^^/?'^ us a rest was very 
familiar to him. I gave him the rest; but his parishioners did not give 
it to him. The3^ soon found out that he was a humbug and that he had 
come there for their money and not for their souls. The3^ complained 
of his exactions and insolences, and finalty abandoned his church, re- 
fusing to pa3^ him a cent. 

To show to his people that he had friends, and that his conduct 
was approved b3^ priests, he invited me to go and see him on a certain 
da3\ When I arrived there, I found his house locked and nobod3^ in. 
As I was obliged to wait several hours for the return of the train to go 
home, I went to pay a visit to one of his trustees, whom I had met at 
the house of one of m3^ parishioners, w^hose relative he was. I avoided 
speaking of m3^ colleague. The trustee asked me what salar3' I received 
from my church. I answered, without an3' malice: "I receive eight 
hundred dollars." The trustee, after m3^ departure, repeated m3^ words, 
which were soon thrown in the face of the priest. 

The next Sunda3', Mr. Perret denounced me from his pulpit as be- 
ing the cause of his troubles, and said that I would pa3- very dear for 



DEPRAVITY OF THK CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN AMERICA. 7 1 

what I had said to the trustee. That priest was not onh^ a talker, but 
a man of action. Though he despised my predecessor, and had spoken 
ver}^ badly of him, he went to see him and conspired with him to ruin 
me in the esteem of other priests and of m^^ parishioners. He went to 
the bishop and to man}- priests, and not onlj^ slandered me, but ridi- 
culed me. This was told me by a good Belgian priest, who was my 
friend. He went farther; he paid a visit to my parishioners and tried 
to arouse them against me. 

There was not much to say about me in my private life, and in the 
exercise of my functions. I regularly said my mass, and made good 
sermons. I taught children the catechism. I visited the sick and the 
poor. I had organized a fair which had produced a sum of six hundred 
dollars for the benefit of the church. During the Lenten season, I had 
had a series of sermons, the effect of which was to bring almost all ni}^ 
parishioners to receive the sacraments of Penance and Eucharist. I 
boarded in a hotel, led a bachelor's life, and lived regularly in the pres- 
ence of about eighty boarders, both Catholics and Protestants. Never 
a lady was seen in my room. M}^ special companion in the hotel was 
my neighbor, who was the principal of the business college of the place. 
My life did not give the least chance for them to attack me. 

But they spread bad rumors from distant countries, from France 
and New York, and their wncked talk found credence with some of m3^ 
parishioners, who left m}- church. 

Until that time, I had been on good terms with the Irish priest of 
that town. I went to him for confession. Once, annoj^ed b}- the in- 
trigues of priests, I told him in confession: "I am discouraged. I do 
not know that I shall remain here. I think I shall return to France." 

After the confession, I sat on a chair, and the priest, against all the 
rules of theology, addressed me thus: "So, you intend to go back to 
P'rance?" I answered: "Yes, I think I will." 

Some days after, the bishop wrote me a letter, in which he alluded 
to mj^ 'Hdea of returning to France. '' 

That allusion astounded me. "How does the bishop know of my 
idea of returning to France ? " I said to myself. "Of two things, one is 
true. Hither ni}^ confessor has revealed m}^ confession, or the bishop 
has been illuminated by the Holy Ghost. As I did not think that the 
bishop was holy enough to be illuminated b}^ the Hol}^ Ghost, I con- 
cluded that my confessor had revealed ni}^ confession. 

I complained of it to the Irish priest. We had a few hard words, 
at the end of which I said: "After all, 3^ou have not revealed precisely 
a sin, but a confidence, which could wrong me in the opinion of the 
bishop. I am willing to pay no attention to it, and to be, as before, your 
friend." We shook hands. We took a drink of whiske5\ The priest 
gave me all the exterior marks of friendship. But, on his part, it was 
the kiss of Judas. As the facts will prove, he considered and repre- 
sented me to his fellow-priests, as a dangerous ?nan^ and plotted with 
them the means of getting rid of me. 

As I have said, Mr. Perret, b}' his foolish actions and talk had lost 
the confidence of his parishioners, w^ho did not go any more to his church. 
In consequence of their desertion, he asked from the bishop disniissorial 



72 DEPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN AMERICA. 

letters, which were granted to him, and in which his lordship expressed 
his wishes for his happiness in new fields of labor. After reception of 
those letters, he came to room and board with the Irish priest of the 
town who employed him as a tool against me. He went to see almost 
all my parishioners, and tried to indispose them against me. 

He preached, in St. Patrick's church, a sermon in English, of which 
a favorable report was made in the newspapers; but people said that 
this report had been written by himself. He published in the news- 
papers that his conduct in Rosiere had been approved bj^ the bishop and 
that he had in reserve a large field of labor. 

A very cunning answer having been made to him in the newspaper 
The Post, Ferret made reply in the Morn2?tg Dispatch, in which he insin- 
uated that "clergymen were the authors of that epistle;" and, to have 
me know that he suspected me, he sent me a copy of the Morni?ig- Dis- 
patch wrapped in a paper taken from a shoe-store where he was going 
every day, to mind the soles (souls) of Christians. 

Being publicl}^ attacked by Ferret, I prepared m3'self to give him a 
public answer. But, in order not to increase a ridiculous scandal, I 
judged proper to publish nothing, and to send him the following letter: 

"To Reverend Ferret, ex-pastor of Rosiere, ex-Jesuit, ex-cap- 
uchin, ex- physician-dentist, ex -missionary, ex-chaplain general of the 
Franco-Frussian war, ex-ambassador of France in Mexico, Brazil, Feru, 
Chili, etc., future chaplain of the army of Don Carlos, in Spain, etc. etc.: 

M}^ illustrious friend — Ever}' one thinks that 3'ou have a dangerous 
sickness. As a good friend, I come to administer to 3'ou a pill, which, 
properlj^ taken, wall, I am sure, procure your salvation. 

That disease, as I know, is lodged in your brain, and is produced 
by an excess of self-esteem, accompanied b}^ a lack of judgment. 

It is painful to me, but I must cure 3^our excessive pride and put 
an end to your foolish bragging. 

A good priest, mj^ dear friend, does the work of God without any 
commotion. ''''Non in commotioiie Domimis.^'' 

What is the use of those interminable letters published in all the 
papers of this cit}^ in which, not satisfied with having slandered your 
whole congregation, you are daring to slander several of yo\xx fellows- 
priests, and to make against them mischievous insinuations? You give, 
indeed, to understand, in the Dispatch of the 21st instant, that some 
clerg3'men have been able to write the letter contained in the Post of the 
1 8th. You do not reveal, it is true, their names. But, as you have 
publicly and repeatedl}' accused m3'self and Father A., even in 3^our 
church, to be the cause of 3'our troubles in Rosiere, it is eas}^ to find out 
what is 3'our aim. 

It is too much. Father Ferret. There is no need to justifiy ourselves. 
Do 3' ou not know that the style of a letter reveals its author? The letter 
in the Post is written in a better style than 3^ours and mine, and the let- 
ler which appeared in the Dispatch of the loth comes evidentl3^ from3^our 
own pen. Are 3'ou not ashamed to publish 3'ourself, 3^our own qualities, 
and to beast 3'ourself as 3'ou do? 

You have solemnl3' published in the Times and in the Dispatch, that, 
last Sunday, you deli^^ered, in St. Fatrick, an eloquent sermon on Divine 



DEPRAVITY OF THK CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN AMERICA. 73 

Grace, in which there was no brogue at all, and in w^hich you were un- 
derstood by ever^^body. Well, my dear friend, you have beautifully 
described a gift of God which is wanting in you. For it is said: 'God 
resists the superb and gives his Grace to the humble.' 

You speak of the large circle of 3'our friends. I should be glad to 
know their names. I should be glad to know those 3^ou wall have in 
the large field of labor, which will be the theatre of 3^our future exploits. 
Such a pride, such an intemperance of language as 3^ours, is not fit 
to keep man3^ friends, and I know that here, la3'men, priests and even 
Protestants, are tired of 3^ our presumption. 

It is wonderful to see that a genius of your race, (knowing seven 
living languages, possessing a fortune of one hundred thousand dollars, 
having occupied so many distinguished positions), should be shame- 
full3^ rejected even b3^ Rosiere, and thrown into the gutter b3^ the 
bishops. What will become of you ? I do not know. But, I think 
that, unless 3'ou pass a few 3^ears in a house of correction, 3^ou will be 
good for nothing, except to go, at the example of Don Quixote, to 
fight with the Carlists in Spain, or to show in the parlors of a lunatic 
as3dum. Yours, P. M. Clerc." 

As Mr. Perret had also accused Father A. of having fostered his 
troubles, and as he accused clergymen of having written against him in 
the paper. The Post, I sent to that good priest a telegram, pra3nng him 
to come and see me concerning a serious matter. 

Father A. came. He showed me a forged letter, written b3^ Perret, 
which he read from his pulpit as coming from the bishop, and condemn- 
ing the conduct of his parishioners. He told me that, during the fifteen 
da3^s he had been living in the same house with him, he had never seen 
him sa3^ a word of breviar3\ He could not understand how the Irish 
priest of the cit3' dared to give hospitalit3^ to such a humbug, who had 
the impudence to attack, in new^spapers, his fellow-priests and his parish- 
ioners. On leaving me, he went to the bishop to complain of Perret, 
and of the Irish priest. I made, m3'self, the same complaint to the Irish 
priest of the cit3^ 

This cowardh^ and deceitful fellow, in order to increase the wrath 
of Perret against me, told him that he was obliged to send him awa3^ on 
m3' account. 

Perret prepared his baggage to depart, and, when he departed, he 
sent me a letter full of threats, sa3dng among other things that I was a 
dangerous man, that ever3''bod3^ was hating me, that I was watched, and 
that I was on the eve of being put out of the diocese. He concluded 
b3^ this warning: *'Look out, Clerc, look out." 

After having received that letter, I wrote a few words to the Irish 
priest, in which I said in conclusion: "How did that genius penetrate 
the secrets of the gods? Is it 3'ou, reverend sir, or the bishop, who made 
to him such revelations? As I do not think it is the bishop, I think it is 
3^ourself alone, so much the more that Perret wTote those things from 
your own house. From and in 3^our house, reverend sir, Catholic priests 
are publicl3^ slandered and insulted. Look out for yourself." 

Being afraid of ha^dng compromised himself, the Irish priest sent to 
me his assistant, to ask me to go to his house. I went. He wanted ta 



74 DKPRAVITY OF THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD IN AMERICA. 

see the letter of Perret. I gave it to him. After having read it, he 
said: "All that comes from his own brain. He is a fool. I never 
spoke to him about you. You must not pay attention to that letter. 
Throw it in the fire." Afterwards we ridiculed Perret. We took our 
tea, and our customary whiskey. When I went away, the priest shook 
hands warmly with me, saying: "good-bye." But, on retiring, I said to 
myself: ' 'Hypocrite //" 

I was sure that he had employed Perret against me; that, since the 
time I had complained that he had revealed my confession, he consid- 
ered and represented me as a dangerous man^ and that his intention was 
to make an holocaust of me. 

Soon after, a Canadian priest, by the name of Delphos, came with 
my predecessor to pa}^ a visit to mj- parishioners. He said openly that 
he intended to become their pastor, that they needed a man of their own 
nationality and not a man expelled from P'rance. 

On hearing that, I wrote to m}^ bishop the following letter: 

" April 27th, 1874. 

Right Rev. and Dear Sir: I have the honor to inform 3^ou 
that I am perfectly aware of the endeavors of Rev. X., 3'our counsellor, 
and his auxiliaries against me, and that not a particle of their mean do- 
ings is unknown to me. 

From the time I wrote to 3'ou and complained to him about the 
revelation he made of m}^ confession, considering me a dangerous man, 
Rev. X has tried to get rid of me. Representing me as such to his fel- 
low-priests, he has skillfully created a part}^ of priests and laymen to act 
against me. 

Pretending to be m}^ friend, even speaking h3'pocritically well of 
me, he is giving to others arms and bullets to fight me. 

Though despising Mr. Perret, he has given him hospitalit}-, and 
has emplo3^ed him as a tool to crush me. He has invited other priests 
to come to ni}' parish and to spread bad rumors about me. One of them 
has even announced his intention to come soon and take possession of 
m}^ parish. 

Tell those stupid and wicked priests that it is time for them to shut 
their mouths and to hold their tongues. If the}^ do not stop, I shall be 
obliged to justify myself, and to reveal to the public the reality about 
them and about me. It is my sincerest wish not to give au}^ scandal. 
But, if they force me, I shall speak, and it will be perhaps the greatest 
scandal ^vhich ever happened in America. Yours, P. M. Clerc." 

The next daj^ the Mor?iing Dispatch contained the following item : 
* ' Scandal is fed b^^ as man\^ streams as the Nile, and there is often as 
much difficult}^ in tracing it to its source." 

I sent it to the bishop, telling him that this article was believed to 
aim at his counsellor and at his priests. I had no answer. 

Several families sent me notice that thej^ gave up their pews in my 
church, wath information that others would follow their example. I 
did not know their motives, but I knew that it was in consequence of 
the machinations of priests. 

My room in the hotel was adjoining the room of the principal of 
the business college of the city. That gentleman, my friend, knowing 



DE^PRAVITY OF^ THK CA^HOtlC PRIESTHOOD IN AMERICA. 75 

the trickeries of priests and their intention to starve me to death, offered 
me a partnership in his college tor the sum of seven hundred dollars. 
He offered to teach me book-keeping, in order that I might teach the 
elementar\' classes. I should also teach French, Latin and Greek, 
while he would teach penmanship, telegraphy and the higher course of 
book-keeping. 

As my parish was not ver\' large, and as many did not want to 
support me, I thought I could teach in the college, and, at the same 
time, continue my functions as a priest. I accepted the proposition. I 
agreed to give him seven hundred dollars, and I began immediately to 
take from him lessons in book-keeping. 

On hearing m}' determination, my enemies became bolder and bol- 
der. The volcano was spreading more and more in its ravages. Other 
families resigned their pews. The two trustees resigned their functions 
without giving an}^ reason for it. 

Anxious to know what was the motive for so many desertions, I 
Avent through the city to find out. All said that they knew nothing. 

At last, a good friend of mine revealed the whole plot. He told me 
that a cousin of the Irish priest, who was one of my trustees, was tr>nng 
to prevent the people from paying their pew-rents; that he was going on 
secretl}^ and prudently; that, to a great man}', he was giving no reason 
for his advice; but, a few upon whom he could relj', he made believe 
that I had been expelled from France and from New York for cause 
of immorality. 

On hearing that infamous slander, I exclaimed: " Oh! the criminal 
priests! this is their work! Well," I said, "they force me; I will justify 
myself. I can prove, as clear as the daAdight, the crimes of those priests, 
and my own innocence, and I will do it." 

I left my friend. I went to see the principal of the college and told 
him what I had heard. "Send those priests to the d — ," he said in his 
disgust, "come with me; we shall live without them." 

In order not to be troubled anj^ more by the bishop, either in my 
new enterprise or in the publication of the facts concerning my leaving 
France and New York — in order to become entirely independent — I 
sent m}' resignation to the bishop. Through contempt, I sent it to him 
by telegram, without gi\dng any motive for it; and, to consummate the 
fact at once, I inserted the same in the newspaper, the Z>ai7y Times. 

When the Irish priest read in the paper the news of m^' resignation, 
he hj-pocritically exclaimed before some of my friends : "I am sorry ! 
I liked Father Clerc! He was a good priest! " 

When m}' friends reported to me those words, I told them: "You 
may sa}' to Father X. that I call him a hypocrite.'" 

The bishop did not yet know my intentions for the future. On ac- 
count of the revelation of my confession, he probably thought that my 
intention was to go back to France. So, I received from His Lordship, 
on the same dav, the following letter: 

"X , July I, 1874. 

Reverend Dear Sir — Your communication was received this morn- 
ing, and, in acknowledging the same, I would respectfully inform you 
that 3'our resignation of the charge of X church is hereby accepted." 



76 DEPRAVl'TY OF* The catholic priesthood in AMERICA. 

To justify myself, I began to write my little story. While writing 
it, I read it to many Catholics and Protestants, who came to see me. 
All of them approved it. In their judgment, it was nothing but an act 
of justice to denounce those criminal hypocrites, who, to cover their 
own disorders, were not afraid to ruin an innocent person. Several of 
ni}^ Catholic parishioners sw^ore to me that they would have nothing 
more whatever to do with priests. 

When my work was complete, I brought it to my bishop. As His 
Lordship received me ver\' amicabh^ I told him: "Reverend sir, in 
sending to a'OU ni}' resignation, I gave 5'ou no reason for it. I bring 
3-ou m}^ reasons in writing. Will 3'ou read them ? " The bishop an- 
swered me: "But 3' ou have a whole volume; I cannot read all that." 
He added: " Father Clerc, have I not been kind to 3'ou ? Have I done 
any thing against 3'ou ? If those priests have acted against 3'ou, I can- 
not help it. It is not my fault. If 3^ou w^ant to go back to France, or 
to pass to another diocese, I will give 3^ou m3' best recommendations." 
I thanked His Lordship, saying: "Reverend Sir, I am disgusted with 
priests. The3' are a dirt3' set. I do not believe an3^ more in them. 
Wherever I go ,they are all the same. The3^ know that I have against 
them too man3' facts, and, as the3' consider me a dangerous man, they 
will represent me as such and tr3^ to injure me everj^where. I trust in 
the merc3^ of God, who knows m3^ conduct and theirs, and, since the 
priests do not want me to work in the sanctuar3', I shall work outside. 
I have made an agreement with the principal of the college of m3' own 
place to be a partner with him. I think I can make m3^ living. I ask 
nothing more from the church." 

The bishop tried to dissuade me from m3^ determination, and offered 
again to give me the best testimonials. I refused them, sa3-ing that my 
determination was taken, and that I had no need of those testimonials. 
Finalh^ I bade him farewell and returned to m3^ own place. 

I remained there three months, stud3dng, from the principal of the 
business college, book-keeping and mathematics, and preparing mj^self 
to teach in his college at the re-opening of the school. 

As some Catholics w^ere trying to slander me among Protestants, 
the latter answered them: "He is too good to be a Catholic." In fact, I 
had no idea of abjuring the Catholic faith, ^ly onh^ object was to make 
m3^ living by teaching in a college. As I had a great man3' good friends 
among the Canadians, Irish and Protestants, in order to keep friendship 
with all, I w^ent to no church at all, sa3dng that my room was my own 
sanctuar3^ and that I could serv^e God in it. M3^ conduct was generally 
approved. As m3^ enemies said that I would turn Protestant and 
marry, I answ^ered that I had no idea of the kind, but that, if I should 
choose to do it, I would do better than those priests, who, li^nng as lib- 
ertines, have the h3-pocris3^ to take at the altar the mask of angels. 

M3^ presence in the cit3' was ver3'' far from pleasing the Irish priest 
and his associates. To have at their door a priest who was talking and 
writing against them, and intended to sta3^ there, was dangerous for 
them. The3' represented me more than ever, as "^ very dangerous man^'' 
and the3^ did ever3'thing in their power to make me leave the oixty. 

At first, the3^ tried to arouse against me the Canadian population, b3^ 



DE^PRAVITY OF THK CATHOIvIC PRIESTHOOD IN AMERICA. 77 

preventing the bishop from sending a successor, and spreading the 
rumor that, as long as I was there, they would have no priest. 

In the second place, they represented me to some fanatic Irishmen 
as a traitor to the Catholic cause, and induced them to knock me down. 
I received a great many threatening letters, and some men were sent to 
me saying, that my life was not safe in that place. 

In order to show what .was serious in their threats, I must repro- 
duce an article of the San Francisco Chronicle, August i8th, 1881: 

"An Ex-Priest Roughly Handled. — Father O'Connor, presi- 
" dent of the independent Catholic church, attempted to deliver a lecture 

"at X last evening. He was interrupted by a mob, who hustled 

"him from the platform and seized his manuscript. O'Connor was es- 
"corted to his hotel by a constable. Warrants have been issued for the 
" arrest of the leaders of the mob." 

At the same time, slanders of the worst kind were spread about 
me. 

Two ideas were in my mind: 

On one hand, I wanted to punish, by my presence in the place, the 
rascality of those priests who had put me out of the church. 

On the other hand, I had in prospect the continual attacks of Cath- 
olics. I thought that my life would be more happ}^ if I should go and 
live in some remote place. So, I made up my mind to come and make 
my living in obscurity and peace in San Francisco. 

Before leaving, I obtained from a Presbyterian minister of the place 
a letter certifying that I was enjoying a good reputation, both for hon- 
esty and good morals. I presented that letter to the pastor and elders 
of St. John's Presbyterian church of San Francisco, and by virtue of 
that letter, I was received "a member of the church." 



VI. 

A Particular Case of Catholic Priesthood Depravity. 



The following details have reference to the horrible persecutions of 
which I have been the object, since I have left the Catholic priesthood. 
Though these details are rather personal to me, the}- are of such nature 
as to interest the public, because they reveal the evil spirit of Catholic 
priests, their cruelty, their intolerance, their fanaticism, and, especiall}^, 
the power they have over a gang of ignorant Catholics, w^hom they ma- 
nipulate as they please, to accomplish their criminal designs. The^^ 
also reveal what those priests would do against all those who are not 
Catholics, if the}^ ever should come in power in this countr3\ 

When I speak of Catholics, whom the}- employ as their tools, I do 
not mean all Catholics. There are good and sensible French, German, 
Italian, Spanish, and even Irish Catholics, w^ho can listen to reason and 
stand an argument. But there is a class of Irish Catholics so ignorant, 
so fanatic and so cruel, that, under the command of priests, thej^ are 
ready to insult, knock down, boycott, rob and even murder anybody 
w^ho is pointed out to them as dangerous to the hoty Catholic cause. 

To any sensible man, it must seem that, since Catholic priests did 
their best to put me out of the church, their imperative dut}' was not to 
interfere with me an}^ more, and to let me entirely alone. 

Since the church had been unfaithful to me, I thought that I was 
free from all engagements with the church, and could act as a free man. 

Since my aim was to live in obscurity and to earn m}^ dail}' bread 
by the sweat of my brow, without interfering with priests or wath their 
creed and practices, they had no right to trouble me. 

Whether I was in the way of salvation or not, it was my own look- 
out. I thought that no Catholic had the charge of ni}^ soul any more, 
and that God w^as good enough to judge, absolve or condemn, either 
mj'self or those who had put me out of the church. 

But the fanatic Irish Catholics of San Francisco had not the decen- 
cy and prudence to let me alone. With a furj^ which has no equal but 
the rage of the demons in hell, for the past fourteen years the}- have 
harassed and injured me. For the past fourteen years, I have been the 
object of the most cruel persecution that a man can endure, not only 
from one man, but from a combination of men and women, who had for 
pass-word: "Let us unite to crush him." I have been ruined b}^ Cath- 
olic influences, kept away from positions I could otherwise obtain, lost 
some positions which helped me to live. Whether I was in business or 
teaching in schools or private families, they have undermined and 
wronged me. I have been beaten bj' Irish Catholic sen^ant-girls. I 
have been boycotted, ill-treated, hooted at on the streets and humiliated 
in the most merciless manner by the members of a church which pre- 



PARTICULAR CASK OF CATHOLIC PRIKSTHOOD DEPRAVITY. 79 

tends to be the Holy Church of God, the only representative of justice, 
charit}^ and mercy on earth. 

I will demonstrate this by the revelation of a few facts which are 
perfectly known in San Francisco, and which can be easily proved: 

It must be known that the Catholic church, though condemning all 
secret societies, is itself a secret society, and has a well-organized se- 
cret police. All my movements were watched, and m^^ residence and 
occupation were very soon known. 

By the recommendation of some French people, who knew nothing 
about my character, I went into business, in co-partnership with a Bel- 
gian, named August Derre, who was represented to me as a smart bus- 
iness man and a past-master P'rench Odd- Fellow, and I invested in his 
business all the money I had, amounting to the sum of four thousand 
dollars. 

I was no sooner in business, than a CathoHc priest, unknown to me, 
made his appearance in the store, and renewed his visits almost every 
day, having long conversations with ni)' partner, but never addressing 
a word to me. 

Why did that Catholic priest come so often to pay his visits to a 
member of a secret society which the church condemns ? Why did he 
speak so friendly to him, while he never addressed a word to me ? 

I found very soon that the business was not going on as it had been 
represented to me, and that I was going to m}^ ruin. By the advice of 
friends, after eight months of hard work, I sold to my partner my share 
in the business for the sum of thirty- two hundred dollars. 

A bill of sale was made and signed by my partner and myself and 
by our two law3^ers. The bill of sale was committed to the keeping of 
m3^ lawyer until the payment, which was to be effected at my lawyer's 
office, within the space of eight days. 

When I went for my mone}^ my lawyer told me that my bill of sale 
had been stolen from him, and that no money had come. He advised 
me to attach the store. I followed his advice, took all the necessary 
steps and paid the needed mone}^ to have the store seized. But eight 
days elapsed before any seizure being made. When I asked why no 
action was taken in the matter, I was answered that the officer of the 
law was out of town, in San Jose. Was not that man in Catholic 
churches, plotting ni}^ ruin with Catholic priests? 

While this highway robbery was being perpetrated under the pro- 
tection of the holy Catholic church, and while my partner was empty- 
ing the store, he was publicly deriding me as an Ex-Catholic priest, 
though I had never revealed to him my character; he w^as boasting of 
havdng ruined me. He had no scruple about it. Why ? Because he 
was approved by Catholics and absolved by priests. 

As I was a member of St. John's Presbyterian Church, Mrs. George 
Hearst, w^ho belonged to that church, advised me to teach the French 
language, and employed me, during three j^ears, as her own teacher and 
the teacher of her son Willie, now the proprietor of the San Francisco 
Examiner. While I was teaching her, she induced me to prepare a 
French grammar, promising me money to print it, and assistance to in- 
troduce it in schools. I accepted the proposition, and I was about two 
years preparing a voluminous French grammar. 



8o PARTlCUIvAR CASE OF CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD DEPRAVITY. 

My business, as a teacher, became prosperous, though Catholics 
tried all the time to injure me. It is a remarkable fact that every time 
I was employed by Catholics, as soon as they found out who I was, I 
was immediatel}' discharged. Not only they did not employ me, but 
the}^ induced, by means known to them, Protestants and Jews to follow 
their example. I was successively employed in two private schools 
from which they succeeded in driving me away. 

The first school was conducted by two Protestant ladies, who were 
pleased with my way of teaching. But, they had a bigoted Irish Cath- 
olic sister-in-law who induced them to discharge me. So, they thanked 
me for my services, and made me lose a sum of tw^enty-one dollars, 
which they owe me still. 

The second school was conducted by an old Protestant lady, who 
kept, at the same time, a boarding house. For my trouble in teaching 
two hours a day, I received free board and lodging. On account of an 
accident, the landlady had no boarders for over one month. Though she 
owned the house, she was in debt, and several times I advanced her 
money. When I wanted to be indemnified for the board to which I 
was entitled, and which she had not given to me, and also to be repaid 
for the advanced money, she answered me that she owed me nothing. 
I sued her for the sum of one hundred and nine dollars. The case ap- 
peared before the Catholic judge, Ryan. There were present, against 
me, about nine Catholic witnesses, some of whom had abused me in the 
house of my landlady, and some were entirely unknown to me. I 
proved my case as clearly as it could be proved. I was assuredl}^ enti- 
tled to an indemnity. Nevertheless, His Catholic Honor, judge R^^an, 
dismissed my case without giving any reason for it. My lawyer saw 
the judge after the trial and said: "Why did you dismiss that case ? 
Professor Clerc has perfectly established his right. It is simply shame- 
ful." The judge answered: "I had my reasons; I need not tell them 
to you." 

Seeing that Catholics were persecuting me even in courts, I said to 
Mrs. Hearst that it was of no use for me to publish my grammar, be- 
cause Catholics would prevent its sale. I told her: "Madam, I make 
you a present of my grammar. Publish it under any name j^ou please. 
I have something better to publish. I have in my possession very strong 
documents against Catholic priests. If, out of those documents, I can 
make an interesting pamphlet which will be of some use to the public, 
will you give, to print it, the money 3^ou have promised for the print- 
ing of my grammar? "I will," said Mrs. Hearst. Immediately, I began 
the composition of my pamphlet. 

After one month and a half of writing, I brought a little pamphlet 
of three hundred pages to Mrs. George Hearst, at the Baldwin Hotel. 

When she had read it, she told me: "It is awful! It is frightful! 
That pamphlet must be published! I wnll give you the money for its 
publication." 

To be sure of its merits, I asked of her the permission to submit it, 
for examination, to Dr. Hemphill, pastor of Calvary Presbyterian church. 
She consented. Dr. Hemphill had it in his keeping for two months. 
He made several speeches concerning it, and, at that time, I received 



PARTICULAR CASK OF CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD DEPRAVITY. 8 1 

the greatest marks of esteem from his wife and from his congregation. 

In the meantime, Mrs. George Hearst had secreted herself. I could 
not meet her any more. The last time I called on her, I was told that 
she had gone to New York. My suspicion was aroused, but I kept 
silent. 

I had been teaching, for about one year, the four grown daughters 
of an Irish Catholic lady, living on Mission street. Those ladies, as well 
as their mother, had a favorable opinion of me, as a gentleman and as a 
teacher. 

When vacation came, they stopped their lessons, with the promise 
of resuming them in the beginning of Jul}^ 

After vacation, I went to see the mother with regard to my lessons. 
That lady received me in a manner indicating that she was uneasy about 
something. I asked of her what was the matter. She answered me 
hesitatingly that nothing was the matter. As I pressed her to speak, 
she told me: "Have you not been a Catholic priest?" I answered, 
"Yes madam.". "Why did 3'Ou leave?" "Madam, if I should tell 3^ou 
my motives, A^our hair would stand erect on your head." "Oh! tell me 
your motives." "My motives are exposed in a pamphlet of three hun- 
dred pages which I intend to publish very soon." "Oh! give me that 
pamphlet." "Madam, it is in the hands of an honorable lady who ap- 
proves of its publication and will even give the money for its printing." 
"Oh, I know that lady!" "Madam, I give 3'ou no name and 3^ou do not 
know who that lady is." "That lady is Mrs. George Hearst." "You 
are wrong, madam, to mention any name, because you cannot prove it." 
"I can prove it, because a friend of mine saw you carrying your pamph- 
let to her at Baldwin's hotel. You must bring that pamphlet to me. 
You are a good man. My daughters esteem 3^ou. I am well acquainted 
with Archbishop Alemany and we will have 3^ou reinstated in yonr func- 
tions as a priest." "I am very sorr}^, madam, I have lost all faith in 
Catholicism." "Oh! 3"ou believe still." "No, madam, I do not believe 
any more in holy water. I cannot preach what I do not believe. I can- 
not be a hypocrite." "If you do not want to preach, we shall employ 
you in our colleges." "Madam, I despise too much 3'our priests to live 
in company with them." "If you do not want to teach in our colleges, 
Archbishop Alemany is ver}^ influential; he can obtain for you a situa- 
tion as a French teacher in Berkeley University. You must go and see 
Archbishop Alemany. He is a good man. Go and see him; it is to 
3^our advantage." I left the good lady without promising anything. 

When I came home, I found on my table a card inviting me to go 
to the mansion of His Lordship. I went, at all hazards, to see what 
propositions should be made to me. I will sum up our conversation. 
Among other things. His Lordship told me: ''Tu es sacerdos in ceternum. 
(You are a priest forever.) You must return to your priestly duties." 
"How can I do it, my Lord?" I answered, "I have lost all faith in 
Catholicism." "Oh, yes, 3^ou still believe, and 3^ou can become a good 
priest again." "It would require ten ^^ears, my Lord, to make a good 
priest out of me." "I can make a priest of you in three da3^s, and put 
3^ou in a parish," said His Lordship. "Impossible, my Lord," said I, 
" I cannot be a hypocrite." As I saw that the good old man, whom I 



82 PARTlCUIyAR CASE OF CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD DEPRAVITY. 

considered as a real good bishop, had no other intention for me but to 
make me a priest again, I bowed to him respectfully and went awa}-. 

The next Sunday, His Lordship had a circular read in all churches 
recommending all the faithful to throw into the flames and burn all 
books attacking religion. 

Dr. Hemphill and his congregation were surrounding me with 
their sympathy. They were in favor of the publication of m}- pamphlet, 
and promised to stand by me. 

As I had started that affair in common with Mrs. George Hearst, I 
wrote to her in New York that my pamphlet was ready for print, and 
that Calvary church was in favor of its publication. I received no an- 
swer. I wrote to her again, and begged of her to send me the promised 
money. She wrote to Dr. Hemphill that she would give three hundred 
dollars for the publication of my grammar, but she wanted to have 
nothing to do with my pamphlet. A little after, she sent back to me 
from New York, without a word of explanation, my manuscript gram- 
mar, which she had sent there, some time before, to be printed. 

A few months after, her husband announced his candidacy for the 
high office of governor of California, on the Irish Catholic democratic 
ticket. On hearing that announcement, all ni)^ friends, who knew my 
case, told me: " Professor, you are sold. You will never get anything 
from Mrs. Hearst. She is in the hands of Catholics." 

As I had yet received no money from her, I informed her of what 
was generally said, and entreated her to send me the promised mone}-, 
for the reason that I had the reputation of writing against priests, with- 
out having the benefit of it. 

My letter having remained unanswered, I wrote her another one, 
in which I reproached her with treating me like a dog which she had 
set against other dogs with the promise of her protection, and with aban- 
doning me, when I was in the heat of the fight. 

I threatened to publish in my pamphlet our correspondence, which 
was very compromising for her, and to sue her for damages, on account 
of having made me lose my time, by false promises, in composing hard 
and tedious books. 

Mrs. Hearst, frightened, sent word to an Irish Catholic lawyer to 
settle the matter with me. I was called at the law3^er's office. Over- 
looking all the wild talks which took place there, I w^ll only saj- this: 
Mrs. Hearst acknowledged that she had been too long in giving the 
promised mone}^ She was willing to loan me four hundred dollars on 
a mortgage taken on ni}^ grammar; but she wanted to have nothing to 
do with my pamphlet. "Wh}^ does she want to take a mortgage on my 
grammar?" I said, "since she has sent it back to me from New York." 
* 'Your grammar is too voluminous and unsalable, ' ' said the lawj'cr. ' 'You 
must compose a shorter one, and Mrs. Hearst will take a mortgage on it." 
" If I compose a new grammar," I said, "Do you assure me that she 
will continue her protection and give me the help of her influence to in- 
troduce it in schools?" "That I can assure you," said the law^^er. "Mrs. 
Hearst has no bad feelings against 3^ou. She acknowledges she has 
been wrong in deferring so long what she had promised. She considers 
you a true gentleman. She will put under foot all the past, and treat 
you as in the first stage of your acquaintance." 



PARTICULAR CASE OF CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD DEPRAVITY. 83 

Trusting the lawj^er, I handed to him all the compromising letters 
of Mrs. Hearst. I signed the mortgage on my grammar. I received her 
four hundred dollars and I went home to compose the new work which 
was recommended to me. 

Thinking that the lawyer, being a Catholic, and that Mrs. Hearst, 
being nearly so, would induce Catholics not to trouble me any more, I 
said I would not publish m^- pamphlet. I had then an interview with 
Reverend Father Montgomers*, the secretars^ of Archbishop Alemany, 
and I told him, that, if he could induce Catholics to let me alone, I would 
never write anything against the church. The priest agreed to it. Ap- 
parently, from that time, the priests showed me some marks of friend- 
ship. Father Montgomery- paid me several visits, in which he tried to 
convert me, not by his argumentations, for he confessed that articles of 
faith cannot be demonstrated, but by advising me to pray to God. He 
loaned me also several books in which I saw no clearer than I can see 
in a large bottle of ink. 

While the priests were apparently flattering me, their Catholic em- 
issaries were undermining me on the sh' and taking awa}- from me all 
the patronage the}- could. A Catholic French teacher, b}- the name of 
lyamare, was directed to publish a weekl}- French newspaper, in which 
he attacked ni}- method of teaching, and to send it to the families who 
employed me as a teacher. I made a refutation of his theory in a printed 
pamphlet of four compact pages, w^hich I distributed among my friends 
and in man}- educational institutions. Though I demonstrated by the 
most powerful arguments the futilit}- of his svstem, I did not gain much 
by it. 

When I had finished the composition of ni}- new grammar, I sent to 
Mrs. Hearst a few words about it. I told her that I wanted to repay her 
and redeem my mortgage, and I prayed her to continue me her favor for 
the introduction of m}^ book in schools. I had no answer. I asked of 
Father Montgomery to write to her in my behalf and to induce her to 
find for me a position in the East, for the reason thas I was too w-ell 
known here as a priest and entirely in the way of Catholics. Father 
Montgomer}- apparently complied with my wishes. He wrote to Mrs. 
Hearst a letter in which he expressed my views. To make me believe 
that he was in earnest, he gave to me the letter unsealed, in order that I 
might read it, and afterwards mail it. Mrs. Hearst answered me in- 
directly that she wanted to have nothing more to do with me. How 
could she answer in such a wa}^ the requests of the secretary- of the arch- 
bishop, who was at the head of the Irish Catholic Democratic party? Did 
she not receive on the sly a letter contrary to the one w^hich was handed 
to me? At the same time, I heard that August Derre, who ow^es me still 
the sum of three thousand two hundred dollars, had become very rich 
and was living in San Francisco. As a priest had induced him to ruin 
me, I asked Father Montgomery-, as a priest, to induce him to do jus- 
tice to me. Father Montgomery- promised me, at first, to do what he 
could, but finally wrote to me that he could not find the residence of 
Mr. Derre. 

Knowing that the police force and the detectives are pretty w-ell in 
the power of priests, I realized that Father Montgomery was fooling 



84 [PARTlCUIvAR CASK OF CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD DKPRAVlTY. 

me, and I wrote liim a letter intimating that he was acting with me 
rather as a politician than as a priest, and that there was no more use 
for me to correspond with him. 

From that time, my business, which had been pretty good fv^r 
seven or eight years, began to decline. Believing that Catholics were 
secretly undermining me and trying to take away from me all means of 
support, I wrote to Archbishop Riordan the following letter: 

"San Francisco, January i8th, 1888. 
"Most Reverend Sir: I have the honor of directly addressing 
' ' Your Lordship and of making a desperate appeal to your good sense 
"and wisdom, (i) to obtain the redress of real wrongs done to me by 
"Catholics and their political allies; (2) to prevent a scandal which I 
"sincerely wash to avert and which, if not averted, will be, I am sure 
"of it, one of the greatest scandals of the nineteenth century." (I then 
substantially related all that is contained in the present pamphlet.) 

"If tell I 3'OU all this. Most Reverend Sir, it is not to threaten 3'ou, 
"but to show you what is the matter. 

' ' You must admit that I have been prudent, forbearing, patient, 
' and that I do my best not to come before the public in a light which 
' would disgrace anybod}^ 

"If my last efforts are unheeded, the responsibility of the scandal 
' will fall, not upon me,, but on those who will have foolishly provoked 
' it. And, to discard all responsibility, I keep a copy of this letter, to 
' be put at the head of my pamphlet, in case I am compelled to publish 
'it. 

"Your Lordship knows, as well as m^^self, that it is easier to pre- 
'vent scandals than to repair them, and that, if the first step a man 
* takes is the hardest, when he is on his way, nothing but death can 
' stop him. If I begin to wTite against Catholics, be sure that I shall 
'be as hard on them as Martin Luther w^as in his time. Should I see 
' two hundred millions of Catholics before me, I would not recede one 
' inch. They can kill me, if the}^ please. If they do, I do not care. 
' I am fifty-five years of age, and I feel that I have lived nearly enough. 
'Before going ahead, I will make my will in behalf of Protestant and 
'Jewish charitable institutions, to the exclusion of Catholics. If I can- 
' not publish my works during m^^ life, I will bequeath them to those 
' institutions, with the request to publish them after my death. And, 
' when I die, no matter how, if I can utter a word, I will hurl to the 
'head of the haughty, intolerant Catholic church this baneful epithet: 
' ^Sodomite .'' ' " Yours respectfully, 

P. M. Ceerc." 
After reception of my letter. His Grace went on a trip to Europe. 
Will he come back with sufficient information to destroy the correctness 
and force of my pamphlet ? I defy him to do it. 

Meanwhile, Catholics seized another opportunity to injure me and 
to destro}^ my reliability. This occurred in a libel-suit in which I was 
subpoenaed to appear in court as an interpreter of a vile article, inserted, 
against Professor Larcher, in a scurrilous French sheet, called Le 
Bayard. 

I did not care to appear in court in such a case. In fact, after hav- 
ing been subpoenaed, I wrote to His Honor, Judge Hornblower, a res- 



particui.ar cask of catholic prie:sthood depravity. 85 

pectful letter in which I asked him to release me from appearing. In 
spite of my request, a police officer came to take me to court. 

In the details which follow, the public will judge if Catholics did 
not influence the defendant, his lawyer and some reporters, to throw 
mud in my face on this occasion. 

Being called to testify, my testimony was at first objected to by the 
lawyer of the defendant, who showed b}^ his action that I was unworthy 
of testifying. That lawyer afterwards asked me several irrelevant and 
obscene questions, which I answered in the most dignified way, and 
which were correctly reproduced by Le Petit Calif or ftien, in its issue of 
June 17th, 1888, but falsely and ridiculously reported by two other 
papers. Finally, the lawyer asked me: "What is your profession?" 
"A teacher of languages." "What were you before being a teacher ? " 
" That is none of your business." "Do3^ou decline to answer?" "I 
positively decline to answer." 

My object, in refusing to say what I was before being a teacher, 
was to avoid hurting the feelings of Catholics and to keep peace with them 
as long as possible. But my delicate feelings, as well as my whole 
deposition, were misrepresented and ridiculed by Catholic reporters. 

As the case was sent for trial to Judge Sullivan, I addressed to 
Judge Hornblower another letter declining to appear in court, for the 
reason that honest witnesses who are compelled to go to court are 
abused in and out of courts. Judge Hornblower gave my letter to all 
the newspapers for publication. Nevertheless, I was again twice sub- 
poenaed. Finally, I addressed to Judge Sullivan the following letter, 
which reveals some facts worthy of interest: 

"San FrancIvSCO, Nov. 12th, 1888. 

Your Honor : Having been subpoenaed to appear as an interpreter 
in the Larcher-Deshayes libel-suit, I wrote to Judge Hornblower a let- 
ter in which, for good reasons, I respectfully declined to accept the un- 
solicited office. In spite of my letter, I was forcibly taken to court by 
a police officer, and, consequently, abused by a lawyer, misrepresented 
and ridiculed by reporters. The case having been sent for trial to the 
Superior Court, for fear of being subpoenaed again, I sent a second letter 
to His Honor, requesting him, for special motives, to let me alone. 
Though, I do not know why, my letter was given away to all news- 
papers for publicity, I have been subpoenaed twice again to appear as a 
witness in that interminable case. As all indications are, that, in spite 
of my protestations, I shall be subpoenaed again, I write to you this let- 
ter, to explain to you my particular reasons why I should not be dis- 
turbed any more: 

1. I know no more about that case than three-fourths of the 
French colony. Wh}" should I be the only man annoyed in this way? 

2. That case is not personal to me. Why should I be compelled 
to interfere with other people's affairs, without any advantage to me ? 

3. That case is a low and disgusting one. Why should I be com- 
pelled to disgrace myself and to soil my hands in touching it ? 

4. Up to the present time, in the judgment of many, the courts 
have treated that case in the most farcical manner, and everything indi- 
cates that, for mj'sterious motives, the guilty party will remain unpun- 



86 PARTICULAR CASE OF CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD DEPRAVITY. 

ished, while his poor victims and their harmless witnesses will get the 
worst of it. The following facts will prove my assertion: 

Kverybody knows that I^eon Deshayes, (or Barra), the proprietor- 
editor of a vile sheet, called Ze Bayard, has insulted and blackmailed 
the most respectable characters in San Francisco. The French consul 
and his chancellor, the French Hospital, the French Benevolent Soci- 
ety, merchants, professional men, Jews, Catholics, (Rev. Father De 
Castries, among others), everything that is honorable has been attacked 
by this disreputable sheet. He has compared American courts to poul- 
try-yards, {basses-cours), and policemen to low ri(ffians. In so doing, he 
has used a style so vulgar and so licentious that the purity of the 
English language could not admit of its translation; that all honest 
French families have refused to receive the dirty sheet, for fear of spoil- 
ing the virtue of their children; that many people wonder that Mr. 
Deshayes has not been arrested for vulgar language and immoral publi- 
cations. Moreover, he has been so violent in his attacks, that man}^ are 
astonished that this foul-mouthed scoundrel has not been shot in the 
streets like a mad and dangerous dog. 

Two Frenchmen have been especially the object of his attacks: Mr. 
K. Marque, proprietor-editor of Le Petit Calif ornien, and Professor Lar- 
cher, a teacher of languages. For his defamatory articles, they had 
him arrested, and I was subpoenaed to appear in court either as a witness 
or an interpreter. 

What has been the result of it? Has Mr. Deshayes been pun- 
ished? Far from it. For about six months since his arrest, he enjoys 
full liberty, being more bold, more impudent, more insulting than ever. 
Neither the police or the courts check him in his madness. He con- 
tinues the publication of his paper in the same strain as before, attack- 
ing without mercy all those who do not swim in his w^aters, and especi- 
ally those who had him arrested, and their witnesses. By an act of 
audacity seldom seen, he has managed to have his own pursuers arrest- 
ed for an alleged defamation; and, as if there were a kind of complicity 
between him and the officers of the law, he had them arrested late at 
night, when bail could hardly be secured; and one of them was obliged 
to pass one night in jail, because it was too late to find a man who could 
bail him. 

Finally, Judge Hornblower, wdio, in the opinion of sensible people, 
should have had the good sense to dismiss the case, placed the two poor 
men under bail, each for one thousand dollars, to appear, as criminals, 
before the Superior Court, 

In the meantime, that mountebank has been predicting his victor}' 
and the punishment of his enemies. Though he is an alien and has 
foolishl}" published that he is not and will never be an American citizen, 
he has been allowed to address other aliens of the same t3'pe as himself, 
in behalf of a political party to which his supporters and judges belong. 
(See the San Francisco Clironide, in one of its issues before the last elec- 
tion.) He has been idolized b}^ the mongrel paper of the pseudo-Prot- 
estant-Catholic George Hearst. He has been coquetting with judges 
and inebriating them with his best frankincense. Who did not laugh 
at the high compliment paid by Deshayes to Your Honor, in one of his 



PARTICULAR CASK OF CATHOI.IC PRIKSTHOOD DEPRAVITY. 87 

last issues: 'Judge Sullivan' said lie, 'is a second Washington! — another 
Lincoln!' (Great God! Can Your Honor stand it?) 

What ma}^ be the cause of this ridiculous comedy? Why these mon- 
strous flatteries thrown at the face of Your Honor? Why has the trial 
of that case been so long posponed? Why is a kind of patronage 
granted to a scoundrel who is considered in San Francisco as a plague 
and a public nuisance? Why is the Hon. Mr. Marque, who publishes a 
good, decent, conser^^ative paper, treated with such meanness ? 

Some people attribute it to political manoeuvres. It may be so. 
As for me, I attribute it to religious intrigues, and this is the way I ex-, 
plain it: 

Professor Larcher had the imprudence to select me as an interpreter 
of the libellous article. Your Honor knows what occurred in court and 
how things were reported, especially by Mr. Deshayes. I was in court 
by a mere accident. Suddenl}^, I became the principal figure, and the 
target of all, being derided by ''Le Bayard'' as a renegade^ an apostate, an 
ex-CatJiolic priest, etc. 

Your Honor may believe that I know, and that many know^ the 
legitimacy of my cause, and that I do not care a fig for what can be said 
about me in that respect. I feel proud to have been attacked by that 
dirty sheet, Le Bayard, and I do not think that the compliments ad- 
dressed to you honor you ver}^ much. 

But my friends advised me to publish a few prudent words for my 
justification in having left the priesthood. Mr. K. Marque had the kind- 
ness to insert my letter in his paper and to say a few^ pleasant words 
about me. 

From that time, has not the Catholic church used all its influence 
to turn the tide of opinion ? Mr. Marque being for me, and Mr. Des- 
hayes being against me, was it not natural for the Holy Catholic church 
to protect the guilty party and to send to Tartarus his innocent victims 
and their unfortunate witness ? 

Who has not heard of the exaggerated and low attacks made on 
me by that braggart, who is himself anti-Catholic and extra-radical ? 
Has he not been informed about me by Catholics ? Has he not received 
money from them and promise of protection and acquittal, if he would 
throw at me all his venom and sarcasms ? 

Mr. George Hearst, whose relations with me I have related, favors 
now, through hypocrisy, Catholics against me, as Catholics favor him. 
Has he not ridiculed me in his newspaper ? Has he not, on the con- 
trary, praised, in the most emphatic tones, the actions of Mr. De- 
shayes ? 

What is the meaning of the importance given to that fellow by the 
Examiner ? What is the meaning of those high compliments paid to 
Your Honor ? 

Under such circumstances, I am called again, against my will, to 
appear as a witness, I — an Ex-Catholic priest — before a Catholic judge. 
What kind of justice can I expect for myself and for those in whose 
favor I am to testify ? 

I know how cruelh^ I have been, and I am still, persecuted b}^ 
Catholics. I know how Catholic judges have dealt with me in the past. 



PARTICULAR CASK OF CATHOUC PRIESTHOOD DEPRAVITY. 88 

Assuredly, I do not consider your Honor capable of committing a 
revolting injustice. But I know, by experience, that there is a great 
deal of elasticity in laws. The proof of it is that lawyers interprete them 
in different ways, and that the judgment of one court is sometimes re- 
versed by another. I know also that judges, like priests, are human 
beings, and are neither infallible nor impeccable. I know that Catholic 
judges are under the influence of priests, and that the}- are recommended 
to knock down all that which can injure their hol}^ religion and their 
saintl}^ church. 

When I see a man of the character of Deshayes compare Your Hon- 
or to Washington and to Lincoln, and when I see myself, an Kx-Cath- 
olic priest, summoned to testify against that scoundrel in favor of honest 
people, before a Catholic judge, I think I have the privilege to decline 
the high honor conferred upon me to appear in court either as a witness 
or an interpreter. 

If it is your pleasure, you ma^^ subpoena me again, in spite of my 
protestation. If something disagreeable occurs, the responsibilit}^ of it 
will not rest upon me. I keep a copy of this letter for m}'- personal use. 

Yours respectfully, P. M. Clerc." 

This letter gives an idea of the subterranean w^a3'S of Catholic 
priests. It shows how far their low intrigues can go, how far their 
power extends and to what degraded means they resort to attain their 
ends. 

Their power goes so far as to penetrate the sanctuary of justice and 
to pollute its temple. 

It goes so far as to employ in their service the most degraded char- 
acters, such as Leon Deshayes, the scurrilous editor of Le Bayard, who 
is reputed to be a disgrace to the French colony of San Francisco. 

It goes so far as to bu}^ and corrupt Protestant politicians, and to 
use their hypocritical papers, against men who are in their wa}^ 

It goes so far as to enroll in their service bands of hoodlums to 
show and spread their vile attacks, to hoot at and to insult their inno- 
cent victims. 

While I was ridiculed by the Examiner and fiercely attacked by 
Le Bayard, I heard a great many of them express openly their joy. 
The}^ imagined that I was played out in San Francisco. How sweet it 
sounded to their Catholic ears to hear me called "an apostate and a ren- 
egade" and to hear that those expressions were printed. One of them 
had the simplicity to tell me that "/ had been excommunicated. '' "/ex- 
communicated!" — I replied, — "Never! I, myself, have excommuni- 
cated the church by spontaneously sending my resignation. Excom- 
munication is a worn out expressson. It is an old harmless gun which 
can only frighten ignorant Irishmen." When I had told him my tale, 
he said: "Well, I have nothing -to say — circumstances alter cases." 

This last attempt of Catholics to debase me before the public hav- 
ing been a miserable failure, because I am an old resident of San Fran- 
cisco, well known for my honest}^ and morality, they tried to injure me 
financially and to boycott me, in my profession as a teacher, and in the 
sale of a little book which I published in June 1888, under the title of 
"The essentials of the French language." 



PARTICULAR CASE OF CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD DEPRAVITY. 89 

The aim of that little book is to simplify the stud}- of the French 
language, and it reall}' simplifies it. It has been honored with the most 
flattering testimonials from the ablest French teachers and the press of 
San Francisco. Among the teachers, I will mention the names of Prof. 
Herbst, principal of South Cosmopolitan school; Prof. Paget, French 
teacher at the Berkele}- Universit}-; Prof. Du Castel, P'rench teacher at 
the Berkelej- Gymnasium; Prof. Charlier, director of the Charlier 
French Institute in New York; Prof. Xavier Mefret, of San Francisco. 
Among the newspapers, I will mention Le Franco-Californiefi^ Le Petit 
Calif oriiien, the San Francisco Bidletin, the San Francisco News- Letter^ 
the San Francisco Chronicle, the vSan Francisco Argotiaiit, the San Fran- 
cisco Morjiing Call, the San Francisco Alta California, the Jewish Times. 

Though this book has been universally praised; though I have ob- 
tained, through it, the most satisfactory results, giving, within the space 
of one year, with two lessons a week, all the knowledge in French 
which is necessary- to American students; the book has not found a very 
large sale in San Francisco. Up to the present time, hardly fifty copies 
have been sold. Wh}- ? Because Catholic French teachers have been 
directed neither to use it or to recommend it. Assuredly, Catholic 
schools would not use it, even were it a golden book. 

As soon as my little book was published, a certain Professor Lam- 
bert inserted in all the newspapers of San Francisco pompous advertis- 
ments (which must have been paid for by Catholics) in which he ai- 
nounced that he would show, at Irving Hall, (i) that the use of a gram- 
mar to learn French is all nonsense; (2) that only eight hundred French 
words are necessarj- to speak French; (3) that only four months are 
needed to learn that language. 

Through curiosit}-, I went, with several of my colleagues, to see that 
new wonder. There were about two hundred present. W^e all agreed 
in saj'ing that Professor Lambert was speaking fluenth' in English, 
with a little Irish accent, while his wa^^ of expressing himself in French 
denoted that he had never put his foot on the soil of ''La Belle France'' 

After having heard the three principal points of his lecture, I chal- 
lenged him publich', for the sum of eight hundred dollars, to prove his 
theor}'. I was hooted at by the Irish Catholic crowd. ■ I left the place, 
calling him a quack, and I allowed his deluded followers to remain in 
their belief that "the moon is made of green cheese." 

That illustrious professor, Lambert, had evidenth^ been sent out b}- 
Catholics to throw discredit on my book, and to drive away from me 
the new pupils which I hoped it would bring me. The}- have prettj^ 
well succeeded. For my book has not had a great sale in San Fran- 
cisco, and I have not gained from it a single pupil. 

In November last, having read in the newspapers a letter from 
Rev. Father Montgomery, accusing the Methodist ministers of plotting 
in their vestrs^-rooms a crusade against the holy Catholic church, I went 
to see some of those gentlemen, who invited me to go to their meetings 
and to participate in their discussions. As the San Francisco Chronicle 
published a few items about me on that occasion, the cowardh' priests 
sent to me some of their satellites to prevent me from sa34ng anything 
against the church. Those satellites flattered me, promised me their 



90 PARTICULAR CASK OF CATHOLIC PRiEvSTHOOD DEPRAVITY. 

support and the support of Catholics. I answered that I had no faith 
in CathoHcs, and that I was determined to follow my own ways. I 
added that, since Catholics had taken the liberty to vilify me in the 
newspapers as an Ex-Catholic priest, I was bound to reveal the motives 
which have induced me to leave the priesthood; in other tenns, to pub- 
lish my pamphlet. 

While I w^as re-writing that pamphlet, the following trick was 
pla3'ed on me, on the second of January, 1889. While I was sleeping, 
at night, somebody carefuU}^ introduced himself into ni}- room and took 
my purse out of my pocket, without touching my gold watch and chain 
nor anything eLe in the house, not even the valuables exposed in the 
parlor below\ 

The idea came naturally to me that Catholics, knowing that I was 
to publish a pamphlet against them, had instructed and even paid some- 
body to rob me, so that I should have no means to publish anything. 
It is an undubitable fact that Catholics did not conceal their j 05' on that 
occasion. On the contrars^, they induced some of their children to hoot 
at me and to insult me in the streets. On seeing that, I went to a 
police ofl&cer and told him that, if I could not appear in the streets with- 
out being insulted, I w^ould ask for the privilege of carr\'ing a revolver, 
and I would shoot any Catholic dog w^hich would dare to bark at 
me. Since that time, I have not been insulted, and I have quieth' com- 
pleted my little pamphlet. 

To w^ard off the inevitable blow, Catholic priests have managed 
to celebrate their own merits in an article published in the San Francis- 
co Chronicle, in its issue of Januar\^ 2 2d, 1889. That article, entitled: 
" How priests live at home," is attributed to a reporter who is supposed 
to have \nsited several houses of priests and found in them only what 
denotes poverty, frugality, mortificatioii and hard work. ".There are in 
their houses," says the reporter, "no carpets on the floors, no curtains 
at the windows. A few common pictures hang on the walls. A com- 
mon table, a common desk and a few common chairs adorn the rooms 
and the parlors. Their table is frugal. The}^ never eat more than one 
kind of meat at a meal. Wine is a luxur>^ which is allowed onh' for 
the benefit of visitors. Besides, they work vers^ hard." 

That singular article, which ma}^ have astonished, more than one 
person, suggested to me the following apologue which I sent to Rev. 
Father Pendergast, to be given, for recitation, to the pupils of the 
Christian Brothers: 

A Dog's Story. 

There was, once upon a time, a particular dog, so vicious in his 
habits, that he had become the terror of the neighborhood. Uniting in 
his nature the cruelt}^ and rapacity- of a wolf with the cunningness and 
suppleness of a fox, he was creating havoc in farms and poultry-3'ards, 
not satisfied with picking up the fattest bones, but plundering hens and 
chickens. More than once, he had been caught in the act of stealing, 
and he w^as so well accustomed to be visited b}- broomsticks, that, as 
soon as he saw a man raise his cane, for fear of receiving the blow, he 
was piteously howling. 

He had particularly plundered the poultr3'-3^ard of a poor little man 
whom he had almost reduced to beggary. That little man had the 



PARTICULAR CASE OF CATHOI.IC PRIKSTHOOD DEPRAVITY. 9 1 

temptation to kill the rascal. But as he was of a good nature, he re- 
solved only to denounce him and to put his friends on their guard 
against him. 

The cunning dog, who used as spies some confederate dogs, soon 
had knowledge of the intentions of the little man. He said to himself: 
' ' The little man wants to denounce me in the newspapers of the vil- 
lage. I know that those papers publish nothing except for cash. If 
I should snatch the purse of the little man, he could publish nothing 
against me. I will therefore snatch his purse." 

And he went, on the sly, to the little man's house. He waited 
until the little man was soundl}^ asleep, and then, cautiously and with- 
out noise, he took his purse slwslj. Holding that purse in his mouth, 
he went to the newspaper man: "Do you see this purse," said he, "I 
have just found it. If 3'ou want to come to my house and report about 
it a// that I will tell you, I will give 3^ou this purse, which is of no use to 
me." 

The reporter throws his covetous eyes on the purse. "Very well," 
he sa3^s, ' ' I will do an3^thing for cash. Give me that purse and I will 
sa3^ for 3^ou all that 3'ou please, and even that you are a gentle dog," 

Soon they are at the dog's house. "Throw a peep around," sa3^s the 
cunning dog, who had previously put everything in shape to suit his 
purpose. "On the floor of my house, 3'ou hardl3^ see a piece of straw to 
sleep upon and warm my paws. Around the walls, 3'ou see nothing 
but cracks, through which the wind, rain and snow enter to make my 
life unhapp3'. I have hardly a thin bone to gnaw. I am poor, sober, 
temperate. Is it not so?" "Yes, it is so," sa3^s the reporter. "And 
3'et, the3' sa3^ that I am a happ3^ dog and that I eat all the fat bones and 
tenderest chickens in the neighborhood, and even that I lap the ambro- 
sia, the liquor of the gods. Is not this an infam3^?" "Yes, it is an 
infam3^," sa3's the reporter. "Well" sa3^s the dog, "if3'ou are willing 
to write for me a nice article, in which 3'ou will sa3^ that I am poor, 
sober, temperate and a hard worker for the ??iultiplication of my race, upon 
m3' faith of a dog, this purse will be 3^ours." "Agreed," said the repor- 
ter, who took hold of the purse and went awa3\ 

The next da3^ the aforesaid article appeared in the newspaper, and 
struck, like a thunderbolt, the bewildered communit3\ 

" That is too thin! — too thin! " ever3^one exclaimed. "Who wrote 
' ' that article ? Why did the reporter go to the dog's house ? What in- 
' ' terest had he to go there ? Was he not paid for it ? Was he shown 
* ' everv'thing ? Was he not ordered to sa3^ onl3^ what would please the 
"dog? Did not the dog himself write the article, giving a purse for 
"its publication? We do not believe that report. We know better; 
"and, to convince ourselves b3' our own inspection, we shall go and see 
"that dog-house." 

And the3- went. At first sight, they noticed nothing but outward 
marks of abstinence and mortification. But their instinct told them 
that there might be a partition, covering a dark closet, and that the 
dark closet might contain some unknown m3'steries. The3^ broke the 
partition, and, lo! what did they see? Heaps of fat bones, remnants of 
fat chickens and hens, large pails full of ambrosia, plunders and thefts 
of ever3^ kind. 



92 PARTICULAR CASK OF CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD DIvPRAVlTV. 

The people went away satisfied that the reporter was either a liar 
or a fool, and, having made up their minds not to make themselves 
guilty of canicide^ they put, in the proximity of the dog's house, the fol- 
lowing sign: 

"Beware of the Dog." 

If this apologue had any characteristic of truth, I would suppose 
that the vicious dog gave more than one biting to the little man who 
had denounced his rascalities. 

I suppose also, that, after the publication of my pamphlet, I shall 
endure more than one attack from Catholic priests. But, I am above 
their reach. 

What can they saj^ about me? 

The}^ may sa}^ [i] that, since I have abandoned the Catholic priest- 
hood, I must have been a bad priest; [2] that I have abandoned the 
Catholic priesthood to indulge in my passions; [3] that I am a man with- 
out religion and a kind of infidel. 

I. If they dare sa}^ that I have been a bad priest, I will say 
that the bishop of Dijon was a liar and an impostor when he delivered 
to me the testimonials inserted in my pamphlet; that Archbishop 
McClosky w^as a liar and impostor when he recommended me as a 
good priest, in his mansion, to the ex-pro testant dean bishop; that 
the ex-protestant dean bishop was a liar and an impostor when he 
offered me letters of recommendation to go back to France; that 
Archbishop Alemany was an impostor, when, nine 3^ears ago, he wan- 
ted to restore me to the priesthood within the space of three days. 

II. If they dare say that I have abandoned the priesthood to in- 
dulge in my passions, I will answer that I had a better opportunity to 
indulge in them, like every other priest, in the discharge of my priestly 
duties; that, in sending my resignation, ni}^ sole object was to save my- 
self from starvation and to make my living by teaching in a college in 
the very place where I had been a priest; that, since the church has 
broken its engagements with me, I have found myself free from all en- 
gagements with the church; and that I have assumed the right to act 
like a free man. My whole history is known in San Francisco. Every 
one, who knows it, acknowledges that I have acted, in all things, as a 
noble man, and I am ready to justify every act of my life; 

III. If they sa3^ I am a man without religion and a kind of infidel, 
I will answer that I believe in a just and good God, who will treat every 
one according to his merits; reward good Catholics, good Protestants 
and good Jews, and punish criminal h^^pocrites, such as Catholic priests; 
for I heard once a Father Jesuit say to priests assembled for a pastoral 
retreat: "Hell — gentlemen — hell is paved with heads of priests!" 

I will say, moreover, that I believe in the Divinity of Jesus Christ, 
the savior and mediator of all men. I may, for a time, have been in the 
dark with regard to the real meaning of some points of his doctrine and 
even his divine character. After so many trials and persecutions, this 
may be forgiven. I may also, in my grief, have resorted to some places 
of legimate amusement. It was a necessity of the time. If I had not 
done it, I would have become crazy or thrown myself into the bottom 
of the sea. But, I had lately the good fortune to meet real apostles, 



PARTlCirtAR CASK OF CATHOtiC PRIESTHOOD DKPRAVITY. 93 

real ministers of the gospel; and, thinking that they have the power of 
saving my soul, as well as and better than Catholic priests, I have re- 
solved to join their church. 

It is written: ^'■Corde creditur ad justitiamy Thinking that all 
Protestant denominations are in the way of salvation, and that they 
must give to each other, in charity and love, a helping hand to reach 
their destin}^, I have joined the Protestant church which suits best the 
turn of my mind and the wants of my soul, and, on the 3rd of February 
1889, I became a member of the Howard Methodist Episcopal church. 

Now, my separation from the Catholic church is for ever consum- 
mated. Let no priest dare to approach me during my living, and at the 
hour of my death. I publicly and solemnly abjure Catholicism. While 
I confess that there are good and sincere Catholics, I proclaim that Cath- 
olic priesthood, such as it has revealed itself to me, is a monstrosity and 
an abomination. 

P. S. — On February 26, 1889, the libel case of Leon Deshayes was 
called before Judge Sullivan, to be tried by a jury. As expected, I was 
subpoenaed to appear in court as a witness, and was intentionally mal- 
igned by a lawyer and a Catholic reporter. 

After I had translated into English the libellous article, lawyer 
Duprey (a French name which corresponds to the English ^oxdi' 'meadow'' 
— that is to say, a thing ?tatiirally green) asked of me the following ques- 
tion: "Have you not been a Catholic priest?" I answered "Yes sir, 
during seventeen years; happil}', I am no more." "Was there a reason 
for your leaving France?" "Yes, sir, a mighty big one, and if it is 
3'our pleasure, I will tell 3'ou all about it." Judge Sullivan moved not 
to insist upon the question. 

Other questions wxre asked, which I refused to answer, as being 
immaterial. The Catholic reporter, however, made about it a story of 
his own, which, at my request, his newspaper corrected the next day, 
confessing that two errors had been committed about me by the same 
Pat who had previously visited the houses of Catholic priests and had 
found them poor, sober and chaste. 

After ten minutes' deliberation, the twelve jurors brought in, 
against Leon Deshayes, a verdict oi guilty^ and their verdict was endor- 
sed and approved by the Cercle Francais, hy the most decent and intel- 
ligent part of the French colony and by all Americans familiar with the 
case. 

Though, in this case. Catholics have evidently tried to disgrace me, 
I have got out of it wdth more honor than they. My pluck and courage 
in court has been generalh^ admired. My action, in siding, against a 
vile sheet, with the French consul and his chancellor, with the French 
hospital and the French benevolent society, with all that is honest in 
San Francisco, and even with the grand jury, has raised me as high as 
the honorable Catholic judge, who had the dishonor of being compared 
to Washington and Lincoln by a vicious alien — higher than the Catholic 
priests who have used the communist Deshayes as a tool against me, 
as they use the socialist, Henry George, in New York, against the good, 
holy and charitable Dr. McGlinn. 



VII. 

An Address to Roman-Catholic Priests. 



Hypocrites: 

The man whom you have so unjustly and so cruelly persecuted, 
not because he was impious, dishonest or immoral, but because you 
found him dangerous and opposed to 3^our criminal life; the man, whom, 
to destroy 3*our own shame, 3'ou have tried to imprison; the man whose 
reputation 3-ou have endeavored to lose in order to save yours; the man 
whom your low intrigues have compelled to leave his calling to lead a 
private life; the man whom you have ruined and robbed in San Fran- 
cisco; the man who, in your opinion, is nothing but an apostate, a ren- 
egade, etc., — that man is here, in San Francisco, after fifteen years of an 
obscure life and of most cruel persecutions, esteemed and honored by 
hundreds of families, who consider him as good and as respectable as 
priests parading at the altar. 

From that eminence, a thousand times more enviable than 3'our pol- 
luted pulpits, he looks at 3'ou with contenipt, and addresses 3'ou these 
words, which he wishes to be heard in all parts of the earth: 

H3^pocrites, 3'ou impose hea\w burdens on the shoulders of 3'our 
people, and 3^ou do not touch them with the extremit3^ of 3'Our little 
finger. 

You preach to others purit3' and chastit3% when 3'our life is a life of 
debaucher3^ 

You preach to 3-our people the total abstinence, when, in 3'our res- 
idence, in 3^our church and even in 3'Our confession-box, 3'Our mouths 
stink with the evaporations of intoxicating liquors. 

You order 3-our people to be fasting before communion, and I have 
seen you drinking the whole night and taking coffee and crackers before 
3'Our masses. 

You forbid 3'our people to eat meat on Frida3'S, and I have seen on 
3^our tables, on the same da3', ham, beefsteak and turke3^ 

You preach disinterestedness, when 3'ou are the slaves of Mammon, 
and employ- all means, even illicit to acquire riches. 

You preach to others the necessit3' of work, and 3'Our life is a life 
of idleness. 

You preach the necessit3' of pra3^er, and 3'ou never pra3^ except in 
public, to be seen b3'' men or to receive 3'our pre3\ 

You preach humilit3^, charit3% forgiveness, and 3'ou are domineer- 
ing, revengeful, slanderous, cruel. If it was in 3^our power, 3'ou would 
establish inquisitions, build dungeons, and put to torture all those who 
condemn 3^our lives. You have none of the virtues which 3'ou preach. 
You are mereh' sounding C3'mbals. You are not the ministers of God, 
nor the representatives of Christ. You do upon earth the work of Satan. 

Hear, O h3'pocrites, hear the words which the I^ord addresses 3'OU 
b3' his prophets: 



AN ADDR:ESS to ROMAN-CATHOLIC PRIESTS. 95 

Ezekiel, xxxiv. "Woe to the shepherds of Israel, that feed them- 
selves. Should not the flocks be fed b}^ the shepherds ? You ate the 
milk and3^ou clothed yourself with the wool; and 3-0U killed that which 
was fat. But my flock you did not feed. The weak, you have not 
strengthened; and that which was sick, 3^ou have not healed; that which 
was broken, you have not bound up; and that which was driven away, 
you have not brought again; neither have you sought that which was 
lost. But you have ruled over them with vigor and^with a high hand. 

And my sheep was scattered, because there •was no shepherd. 
There was none that sought them. 

Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 

Behold, I myself come upon the shepherds. I will require my flock 
at their hand, and I will deliver my flock from their mouth, and it shall 
be no more meat for themy 

Jeremia xxiii. "Woe to you, pastors that destroy and tear the 
sheep of my pasture. 

My heart is broken within me, because the land is full of adulterers. 
The priests are defiled, and, in my house, I have seen their wickedness, 
saith the Lord. 

And I have seen the likeness of adulterers and the way of lying in 
the prophets of Jerusalem. 

And they strengthened the hands of the wicked, that no man 
should return from his evil doings. They are all become to me as Sodom, 
and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 

Therefore, saith the Lord of Hosts to the Prophets: Behold, I will 
feed them with wormwood, and I will give them gall to drink. For, 
from the prophets of Jerusalem corruption has gone forth in the land." 

Osee V. "Hear ye this, O priests. There is a judgment against 
you, because you have been a snare to them whom you should have 
watched over and a net spread upon Thabor, and 3-0U have turned aside 
victims into depth." 

Malachias i. "To yoM, O priests that despise my name, you offer a 
polluted bread upon my altar. 

Who is among you who will kindle the fire (tapers) upon my altar 
gratis. 

I have no pleasure in 3^ou, saith the Lord of Hosts, and I will not 
receive a gift at your hand. 

Malachias 11. "If you will not la\^ it to ^-our heart to give glory to 
m}^ name, I will curse your blessings. Yea, I will curse them. 

And I will scatter to your face the dung of your solemnities. 

The lips of the priests shall keep knowledge ; and the^^ shall seek the 
law at their mouth. 

But, you have departed out of the way, and caused man}^ to stumble at 
the law. 

Therefore, have I also made 3^ou contemptible and base before all the 
people, because 3^ou have not kept my ways.'' 

Yes, Catholic priests, you have been made base and contemptible before 
all the people. 

This is the word of God ; and the voice of the Almighty is echoed 
by the voice of the people. 



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